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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2008 / What to Expect From McCain’s Speech Tonight

What to Expect From McCain’s Speech Tonight

by John Cole|  September 4, 20083:23 pm| 122 Comments

This post is in: Election 2008, Did You Know John McCain Was A POW?

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Some predictions:

1.) I expect it will be short. Every second that McCain is speaking, Steve Schmidt and the rest of the McCain team die a thousand deaths.

2.) It will be relatively substance free. Expect more of the same biographical stuff, talk about character, putting country first, and other babble.

3.) It will focus on wars past, present, and future. The domestic arena will get little attention, other than probably some nonsense about drilling.

4.) I honestly don’t expect McCain to hammer Obama bluntly and blatantly. He just isn’t very good at it, and really runs the risk of being perceived as a grumpy old man yelling “GET OFF MY LAWN” when he uses the canned insults they feed him. He always gets that really awkward look on his face, and that weird smile followed by an uncomfortable “heh heh.”

5.) Expect there not to be a lime green background.

6.) He will deliver a zinger or two that won’t be actually very funny, but the crowd will act like it was the funniest thing said ever. As they should- that is thy they are there.

7.) He won’t call Obama uppity like Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) just did.

8.) Finally, I expect him to at least once, but probably multiple times, obliquely challenge Obama’s patriotism. McCain really has nothing but sheer snarling contempt for Obama, and that has been obvious the way his campaign has behaved (and the way the speakers have behaved this week).

Your predictions?

*** Update ***

LOL. Missed this one. Apparently the folks over at the fact free zone at Red State are pretending the teleprompter did not work for Palin last night. They are, as they are on virtually EVERYTHING, wrong.

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Reader Interactions

122Comments

  1. 1.

    mantis

    September 4, 2008 at 3:27 pm

    Predictions? Yep.

  2. 2.

    caprafan

    September 4, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    I dunno, the Obama campaign has done so much to build up the lack of policy ideas in the convention, that it’d be a really bad idea for them to not at least mention policy, particularly a glowing bullshit fest about his healthcare plan.

  3. 3.

    riffle

    September 4, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    He’ll have had a change of heart about drilling in ANWR, and the speech will be DRILL DRILL DRILL, nukes, coal.

    That’s to add to the votes they are getting from everyone with in scent of a meth lab and everyone who is personally worried about the estate tax.

  4. 4.

    Keith

    September 4, 2008 at 3:29 pm

    I expect Trig to get passed around on stage following the speech. One drink for every pass.

  5. 5.

    Will

    September 4, 2008 at 3:30 pm

    I predict that I will be watching Giants/Redskins!

    Nice job scheduling that speech the same night football season kicks off, RNC… I pray for lots of overtime.

  6. 6.

    DonnaInMichigan

    September 4, 2008 at 3:31 pm

    My name is John McCain, and I am a POW.

  7. 7.

    4tehlulz

    September 4, 2008 at 3:32 pm

    McCain will reveal a painful personal secret to attempt to connect with the audience; I’ve heard rumors he was a POW in Vietnam, so that may be it.

  8. 8.

    JR

    September 4, 2008 at 3:33 pm

    It may involve the word “POW”
    He will not be in front of a green backdrop

  9. 9.

    Dr. Squid

    September 4, 2008 at 3:33 pm

    Take a drink for every time he says “Victory”.

    I’ll either watch football or Kitchen Nightmares.

  10. 10.

    JR

    September 4, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    Also: He will make a moose joke. The name “Bush” will not be spoken.

  11. 11.

    Josh

    September 4, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    Take a drink for every time he says “Victory”.

    Only if it’s Victory Gin.

  12. 12.

    The Moar You Know

    September 4, 2008 at 3:37 pm

    I understand they’ll be mentioning that Obama is of the African-American persuasion, and we’re very proud of all the progress those people have made.

  13. 13.

    SamFromUtah

    September 4, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    Expect more of the same biographical stuff, talk about character, putting country first serving a cause greater than self, and other babble.

    Don’t forget they had to scrub that country first stuff after it turned out Palin has ties to secessionists.

    Though they may have to change the “serving a cause” slogan too, now that we’ve found out that community organizer = teh Devil.

  14. 14.

    north_aufzoo

    September 4, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    As Clubber Lang memorably said in Rocky III:

    “My prediction? Pain!”

    But he probably wasn’t referring to the pain of having your brain bludgeoned by cringe-worthy deception, ignorance, and boredom. That’s the sort of pain even Mr. T shouldn’t have to endure.

  15. 15.

    sparky

    September 4, 2008 at 3:39 pm

    POW=9/11
    Palin>Obama
    drill, drill, drill
    lame-ass joke about “my girls”
    “community organizer” aka uppity
    i’ve been fighting the special interests since i was in a cage.
    cuz i’m a maverick i’ll do something really wacky to catch bin laden like bomb iran. or one of those places over there. also, it’s obama’s fault we lost vietnam. and china. and korea.

  16. 16.

    DonnaInMichigan

    September 4, 2008 at 3:39 pm

    Cindy McCain, will speak about her role as wife, mother and her community service.

    HUH?

    Didn’t Palin state that community service didn’t count?

  17. 17.

    Ted

    September 4, 2008 at 3:41 pm

    A headline on MSNBC.com right now says McCain’s speech will be in a “town-hall” format. How the hell do you make a speech in front of a few thousand people a town hall style event?

  18. 18.

    greynoldsct00

    September 4, 2008 at 3:42 pm

    I’m wondering how many will tune in to Obama on O’Reilly tonight… I think I’d rather take my chances watching that than lose my lunch listening to McCain. I’ll get my debrief from here…

  19. 19.

    handy

    September 4, 2008 at 4:03 pm

    Yeah I have a prediction:

    Intro followed by roaring applause.

    McCain: “Thank you! Thank you! My friends, for five and half years I didn’t have a table…”

  20. 20.

    b-psycho

    September 4, 2008 at 4:08 pm

    Currently I am planning on taking a cocktail of vodka, dramamine, and no-doz to make it through McCain’s speech.

    For our entertainment, PLEASE liveblog in that condition! Do it for the children!

  21. 21.

    Quiddity

    September 4, 2008 at 4:08 pm

       I wanna lime green background!   

    Actually, lime green is too dark. This background color is “spring green 2” = #57E964;

  22. 22.

    PeterJ

    September 4, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    How the hell do you make a speech in front of a few thousand people a town hall style event?

    Obama moved his speech to Invesco Field, I’m guessing McCain is going to move his speech to the basement.

  23. 23.

    Rick Taylor

    September 4, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    I expect McCain will hammer Obama. He isn’t very good at it but he’ll do it anyway. What else does the G.O.P. have now?

  24. 24.

    Punchy

    September 4, 2008 at 4:11 pm

    Hey, some Rep from Cali just called Obama “uppity”. Didn’t finish with “n#gger”, however. So we’re still on for the race to see who the first unhinged Republican is to throw it out.

    Looks like it wont be long now….

  25. 25.

    handy

    September 4, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    Hehehe, thanks WordPress for making mincemeat of my comments. Much appreciated.

    Anyhoo, McCain’s really hurting himself going up against football. Palin is the highlight of this sucker, no doubt, but she’s not at the top of the ticket. So, yeah, way to execute on tactics, McPOW.

  26. 26.

    glocksman

    September 4, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    We’ll see the Dynamic Duo in action. :)

  27. 27.

    phobos

    September 4, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    “How ’bout that Sarah Palin?” – crowd goes wild.

    “My friends… [boilerplate populism] – crickets

    “How ’bout that Sarah Palin?” – crowd goes wild.

  28. 28.

    PeterJ

    September 4, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    Redskins vs Giants tonight, I’m rooting for overtime.

  29. 29.

    amorphous

    September 4, 2008 at 4:14 pm

    I’m not sure he’ll do it, but I hope he offers each member of the audience a Werther’s, like Grampas are ‘sposed to do.

  30. 30.

    Warren Terra

    September 4, 2008 at 4:14 pm

    I second the comment that even this bunch of culture-war numbnuts realize that someone at the convention has to express a positive idea of why McCain/Palin should be installed, rather than just a visceral hatred of Obama. Certainly no-one last night expressed any notion of what they’d do in office, except for drill everywhere and fight in Iraq.

  31. 31.

    Jeff

    September 4, 2008 at 4:18 pm

    Since McCain did not respect what another community organizer did for the country and always voted against his holiday, why are people surprised they are belittling Barack Obama’s work?

  32. 32.

    Eric

    September 4, 2008 at 4:18 pm

    Presiction: At some point during the evening, McCain will be forced to remind the audience that he, not Palin, is actually the nominee for President.

    Also, some rednecks in the crowd will cheer wildly for oil drilling.

  33. 33.

    Calouste

    September 4, 2008 at 4:20 pm

    McCain speech leaked!

    Complete text below:

    “Noun verb POW”

  34. 34.

    Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill

    September 4, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    I’ll have to disagree, I think. McCain’ll come up with some list of Domestic items, and tie it to this “actions over words/reformer with results redux” line he’s pulling. He knows he has to aim square for the Independents and Middle, now that’s he’s been tearing down Obama.

    Drive the other guy’s negatives up, and then get his faux-Change platform as the alternative.

  35. 35.

    tBone

    September 4, 2008 at 4:28 pm

    Cindy McCain, will speak about her role as wife, mother and her community service.

    HUH?

    Didn’t Palin state that community service didn’t count?

    Community service, like serving on the PTA, is a huge responsibility that imparts vital executive experience. In that respect, it’s a lot like being a POW.

    Community organizing is just feel-good nonsense aimed at welfare queens and other shiftless, lazy dregs of society who really ought to get a job and pull themselves up by their own bootstraps instead of suckling at the teat of liberal Big Government.

    I hope this illustrates the difference for you.

  36. 36.

    Punchy

    September 4, 2008 at 4:28 pm

    If he’s smart, and wants to really connect with the populace, he’ll start his speech with a reminder to everyone to set their fantasy rosters QUICKLY before the Giants game tips.

    Anyone wanna set an over/under on the number of times the cameras will pan on Palin’s knocked up kid? 25? 35?

  37. 37.

    moderately

    September 4, 2008 at 4:29 pm

    That’s the same Westmoreland who sponsored a bill to place the ten commandments placed in the House and Senate and then couldn’t name half of them when Colbert challenged him to.

  38. 38.

    Davis X. Machina

    September 4, 2008 at 4:29 pm

    I second the comment that even this bunch of culture-war numbnuts realize that someone at the convention has to express a positive idea of why McCain/Palin should be installed, rather than just a visceral hatred of Obama.

    Visceral hatred has taken them this far — why change now?

    “Forget it, Jake. It’s Nixonland.”

  39. 39.

    Glyph_2112

    September 4, 2008 at 4:30 pm

    It’s hard to believe that we are watching the same campaigns as the right. The pundits and politicians are there to spin a positive image, but when I talk to some of my right wing friends, they are so divorced from reality. They think McCain has actually run a good campaign!? I mean, come on, if he really wanted to win, he should be pandering to the middle, cause you know social conservatives have no where else to go. Isn’t that how Bush won? Heck, after won, then he could do what Bush did and govern however he wanted. What’s lying to the public for a republican.

  40. 40.

    Tim (The Other One)

    September 4, 2008 at 4:30 pm

    the first time he says “my friends” my head will explode.

  41. 41.

    Joey Maloney

    September 4, 2008 at 4:32 pm

    Team Obama’s response to being called “uppity”:

    The Obama campaign, asked about the quote, did not note any racial context.

    “Sounds like Rep. Westmoreland should be careful throwing stones from his candidate’s eight glass houses,” said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor.

    More like that, please.

  42. 42.

    oh really

    September 4, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    LOL. Missed this one. Apparently the folks over at the fact free zone at Red State are pretending the teleprompter did not work for Palin last night. They are, as they are on virtually EVERYTHING, wrong.

    Somehow, I expect this one to be fully enshrined as official legend within 48 hours — filed next to Sarah Palin: reformer; Sarah Palin: maverick; Sarah Palin: (fill in lie).

  43. 43.

    Stuck in the Fun House

    September 4, 2008 at 4:35 pm

    4.) I honestly don’t expect McCain to hammer Obama bluntly and blatantly

    I think this would be the course a normal campaign would take, but wingnuts are now in a frothy victim mode, like so many wild (possibly rabid) animals. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mccain come out with both guns blazing at Obama. Or is it wishful thinking on my part. Stay tuned.

  44. 44.

    PeterJ

    September 4, 2008 at 4:37 pm

    That’s the same Westmoreland who sponsored a bill to place the ten commandments placed in the House and Senate and then couldn’t name half of them when Colbert challenged him to.

    If I recall correctly, his defense was that the Colbert Report edited the interview and that he actually could name seven of them…

  45. 45.

    jake

    September 4, 2008 at 4:39 pm

    POW! POW! POW! I learned to appreciate freedom and democracy and drilling for oil when I was a POW!

    A headline on MSNBC.com right now says McCain’s speech will be in a “town-hall” format. How the hell do you make a speech in front of a few thousand people a town hall style event?

    I have been pondering that myself. Maybe it’s just an excuse so he can sit on a stool while he talks.

    “Sounds like Rep. Westmoreland should be careful throwing stones from his candidate’s eight glass houses,” said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor.

    Heh. It also sounds like guys with girls names should find other ways for compensate for the teasing they endured as children. Aaaand … Damn. The WikiFairies work fast.

    Bet: The N word will slither out of someone’s mouth by Oct 15.

  46. 46.

    John H. Farr

    September 4, 2008 at 4:41 pm

    WOW! I was able to access this site today, after only a few hours!

    John, three things:

    1. WordPress is wonderful. Nothing wrong there. But your installation may be buggered, and you should do it all over again. Be sure you have the latest version!

    2. You might consider a different theme. Sometimes there are incompatibilities with the latest WP builds.

    3. If your installation (database! database!) is OK and the WP version is current and this thing still craps out, then you absolutely need a new hosting service. I just have a shitty little WP blog, but it works fine. You undoubtedly need fatter pipes.

    If you can’t do this stuff, just hire me: http://www.zoopilot.com/

    Otherwise, keep up the good work!

  47. 47.

    Punchy

    September 4, 2008 at 4:41 pm

    If you felt lately a little short of breath, its because there’s about 100K hyperventilating GOSers sucking all the damn oxygen out of the air.

    As I type, there’s approximately 59 diaries currently featuring something that will “destroy!” Sarah Palin. Yet there she is, still the VP nommy. If only we could find a way to power cars with that much empty bullshit.

  48. 48.

    Tsulagi

    September 4, 2008 at 4:42 pm

    folks over at the fact free zone at Red State are pretending the teleprompter did not work for Palin last night. They are, as they are on virtually EVERYTHING, wrong.

    And the surprise factor would be…?

    Maybe the teleprompter embellishment signals Bush’s PR storytellers have moved over to Camp McCain. They’ve been good at that stuff.

    Sort of reminds me of the one when Bush went to Iraq to serve troops Thanksgiving dinner. Remember Bush himself gushing that it was such a super double-secret trip that he didn’t even tell mumsy and daddy beforehand then snuck out? Guess he was worried mom might drop a dime on him calling bin Laden.

    Anyway, they said while Air Force One was streaking through the dead of night over the Atlantic a BA commercial pilot hailed them asking “Is that AF1 I see?” Oh noes, the security of our Segway challenged Commander Guy was now in peril! The future of the republic at risk. But the sly Air Force One pilot coolly replied “No, this is Gulfstream….”

    Sounded really good. Punched up the illusion of the intrepid 00Bush. But that conversation with a BA pilot never happened. When called on it, the WH went through four or five rewrites before it was just dropped. Simply more bullshit along the road.

    Four more years!

  49. 49.

    gil mann

    September 4, 2008 at 4:42 pm

    Team Obama’s response to being called “uppity”:

    Oh, dude, for real? Another house joke? That’s red meat for the base? I’m a vegetarian and even I think that’s pretty effin’ weak.

    They’re bringing an Andy Borowitz column to a gunfight. And not even a printed-out version that you could give someone a papercut with.

  50. 50.

    D. Mason

    September 4, 2008 at 4:43 pm

    McCain’s really hurting himself going up against football.

    Really? People will not see him speaking like a doddering old fool in front of his party while they try hard to muster up the will to cheer him on(with cues btw). Instead they will hear about what a great speech he gave and how energized the crowd was from the Republican friendly media. Yeah, that works out horribly for him.

    This blog is starting to turn into a bit of a fever swamp and that sucks.

  51. 51.

    PeterJ

    September 4, 2008 at 4:44 pm

    Heh. It also sounds like guys with girls names should find other ways for compensate for the teasing they endured as children.

    The Politico story about it identified Lynn Westmoreland as a congresswoman…

  52. 52.

    Rome Again

    September 4, 2008 at 4:44 pm

    4.) I honestly don’t expect McCain to hammer Obama bluntly and blatantly. He just isn’t very good at it, and really runs the risk of being perceived as a grumpy old man yelling “GET OFF MY LAWN” when he uses the canned insults they feed him. He always gets that really awkward look on his face, and that weird smile followed by an uncomfortable “heh heh.”

    Are you kidding? That’s all he’s done so far (besides pick a trainwreck of a running mate, I mean) and even though it doesn’t play well, that’s all he knows how to do.

    He truly hates Obama, and can’t stop talking about him.

  53. 53.

    Laughingriver

    September 4, 2008 at 4:47 pm

    Dude, what’s up with your site? I’ve had a real hard time accessing it this week…

  54. 54.

    JGabriel

    September 4, 2008 at 4:51 pm

    Amorphous:

    I’m not sure [McCain]’ll do it, but I hope he offers each member of the audience a Werther’s…

    He’s gonna ask the audience to commit suicide out of longing for someone else’s wife?

    That would make a lot of sense, actually.

    .

  55. 55.

    jake

    September 4, 2008 at 4:58 pm

    The Politico story about it identified Lynn Westmoreland as a congresswoman…

    Fact Check Fail. But Westmoreland can’t complain because that would be sexist.

  56. 56.

    DougJ

    September 4, 2008 at 4:58 pm

    Halperin and Mike Allen will fellate him before, during, and after the speech.

  57. 57.

    The Moar You Know

    September 4, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    Punchy Says:

    If you felt lately a little short of breath, its because there’s about 100K hyperventilating GOSers sucking all the damn oxygen out of the air.

    As I type, there’s approximately 59 diaries currently featuring something that will “destroy!” Sarah Palin. Yet there she is, still the VP nommy. If only we could find a way to power cars with that much empty bullshit.

    I participated at the Great Orange Satan for a long time (under a very different name) and eventually left, as do most people who have brains. While it was nice in the evil years after 2003 to find a community of Dems, it quickly paled as I came to realize I didn’t have much in common with those people. I was reading over there yesterday and it has gotten far, far worse. They are frankly everything that I loathe about the right wing (slavishly adherent to groupthink, suckers for easy slogans that require no thought, pimpers of dishonest simple solutions, etc.) and frankly it’s mostly the same group of people, just with a different ideological label attached.

    Dogemperor is still there, though, and that stuff is just amazing – no one else is doing the research and work on the Joel’s Army/Dominionist people, I’m glad at least that someone is.

    Plus, they have a lot to answer for; they created Armando (AKA Big Tent Democrat). That’s a debt that needs to be repaid to society.

  58. 58.

    phobos

    September 4, 2008 at 5:02 pm

    Apparently the folks over at the fact free zone at Red State are pretending the teleprompter did not work for Palin last night.

    That being the pre-fab “oh yeah?” to Ms. Palin being sequestered away and learning her lines and motivation in a very short time.

    I am so looking forward to her performance during interviews once she really starts “winging it”.

  59. 59.

    4tehlulz

    September 4, 2008 at 5:08 pm

    McCain will bring up Lincoln once, and the TV cameras all will focus on one of the 8 black people on the floor.

    He will then proceed to drop the street hustler “Community Organizer” code.

  60. 60.

    sistermoon

    September 4, 2008 at 5:10 pm

    From Daily Kos:

    Jesus was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor

    I wish I’d said that…

  61. 61.

    Brachiator

    September 4, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    Your predictions?

    Don’t underestimate McCain. The stage is being re-done so that it is more “Town Hall friendly.” So,

    “My friends. I was a POW. Tax Cuts. Victory. Liberals are weak. Isn’t Sarah Palin hot? Thank you and God Bless Republican Americans.”

    The crowd will go wild.

  62. 62.

    libarbarian

    September 4, 2008 at 5:13 pm

    LOL. Missed this one. Apparently the folks over at the fact free zone at Red State are pretending the teleprompter did not work for Palin last night. They are, as they are on virtually EVERYTHING, wrong.

    But she’s so awesome it has to be true.

  63. 63.

    sistermoon

    September 4, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    Halperin and Mike Allen will fellate him before, during, and after the speech.

    Eeewww… Think I’m gonna watch the game

  64. 64.

    Josh

    September 4, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    Amorphous:

    I’m not sure [McCain]’ll do it, but I hope he offers each member of the audience a Werther’s…

    He’s gonna ask the audience to commit suicide out of longing for someone else’s wife?

    That would make a lot of sense, actually.

    JGabriel FTW!

  65. 65.

    Martin

    September 4, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    3. If your installation (database! database!) is OK and the WP version is current and this thing still craps out, then you absolutely need a new hosting service. I just have a shitty little WP blog, but it works fine. You undoubtedly need fatter pipes.

    Just swap out the hamster for one of myiq’s goats. You gotta believe they have stamina like no other living thing.

  66. 66.

    dewberry

    September 4, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    Apparently he’s going to be wandering into that audience and taking unscripted questions.

    Uh-huh.

    A 7 year old with a live mic, that’s unscripted. A convention delegate who’s been through 3 layers of security and won election as a delegate not so much.

  67. 67.

    gbear

    September 4, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    I understand they’ll be mentioning that Obama is of the African-American persuasion, and we’re very proud of all the progress those people have made.

    I predict that whenever Obama’s name is mentioned/slandered, the cameras will pan to the 4 black delegates in the crowd smiling and applauding wildly.

    I also predict that no one will bring up Lynn Westmoreland.

  68. 68.

    Martin

    September 4, 2008 at 5:20 pm

    3. If your installation (database! database!) is OK and the WP version is current and this thing still craps out, then you absolutely need a new hosting service. I just have a shitty little WP blog, but it works fine. You undoubtedly need fatter pipes.

    Just swap out the hamster for one of myiq’s goats. You gotta believe they have stamina like no other living thing.

    Dogemperor is still there, though, and that stuff is just amazing – no one else is doing the research and work on the Joel’s Army/Dominionist people, I’m glad at least that someone is.

    DKos is like civet coffee. You gotta dig through a lot of shit to find the precious nuggets of goodness – but the effort is usually worth it.

  69. 69.

    w vincentz

    September 4, 2008 at 5:20 pm

    OK…hope WordPress doesn’t eat this one too. 5th time.
    I expect McInsane to keel over with a heart attack about half way through so the Shrilla from Wasilla will become the nominee.
    By the way, speaking of the lipstick wearing pitbull, over at the LA Times, Gloria Steinem wrote something worth the time, “Wrong Woman, Wrong Message”. At Huffpo, Nora Ephron has also weighed in. Hillary has been crickets so far, but I expect that when she shows up in FL on Monday, she’ll have something to say about the Caribou Barbi’s support of keeping women’s wages at 67 cents to every buck a male earns an perhaps something about the role of the government in deciding the rights of the government in determining how their uteruses should be dealt with.
    To any women out there in cyberland, if’n you might have bought into the steaming pile of mooseshit that you heard last night, the stakes are very high.
    I hope you all decide to send the lipstick wearing pitbull back to the doghouse behind the trailer (mobile home), in the backyard, next to the snowmobiles. She lives there.
    She should stay there.
    And female friends, don’t fear using your claws. The catfight has started. Sarah’s barking started it.
    Maver-bitch…dish it…now take it!

  70. 70.

    Tsulagi

    September 4, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    I dunno, since McCain’s slogan is Country First, one thing he might consider doing before his speech tonight is bring in a few more into the audience who aren’t quite so pasty looking. You know, maybe in an attempt to appear more representative of that country thing.

    Hate to bring up race, but damn that floor audience looked like a sea of albinos emptied out of whites-only nursing homes and fat farms. About 5-10 minutes into Palin’s speech, seeing it was pure formula, bored I started looking for anyone who even looked like they’d been out in the sun. Wife was watching the speech too, and turned out she was thinking the same thing. So then we played a game of spot the minority while Palin was speaking. It was kinda fun.

    Not the only one who noticed. This was in the WaPo today…

    Organizers conceived of this convention as a means to inspire, but some African American Republicans have found the Xcel Energy Center depressing this week. Everywhere they look, they see evidence of what they consider one of their party’s biggest shortcomings.

    As the country rapidly diversifies, Republicans are presenting a convention that is almost entirely white.

    Only 36 of the 2,380 delegates seated on the convention floor are black, the lowest number since the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies began tracking diversity at political conventions 40 years ago.

  71. 71.

    John Cole

    September 4, 2008 at 5:22 pm

    WVINCENTZ- WordPress did not eat your post, I deleted them.

    This is your last damned warning. If you can not refrain from sexist language, something you have been warned about repeatedly, it is time for you to move along. Colorful language is fine, but I will not have you running around referring to palin as a bitch.

    Knock it the fuck off. And that goes for everyone.

  72. 72.

    Warren Terra

    September 4, 2008 at 5:23 pm

    I’ve got the speech right here: I was a POW, Obama is the antichrist, and if you don’t vote for McCain Palin I’ll drop this baby.

  73. 73.

    Cris

    September 4, 2008 at 5:25 pm

    I want him to start his speech with “I’m John McCain, reporting for duty.”

  74. 74.

    Blue Buddha

    September 4, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    My prediction:

    “Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel. And in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them. ‘Give me five bees for a quarter,’ you’d say. Now where were we? Oh yeah, the importing thing was, I had an onion on my belt… which was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones…”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW5Eqycf4d4

  75. 75.

    gbear

    September 4, 2008 at 5:33 pm

    Just swap out the hamster for one of myiq’s goats. You gotta believe they have stamina like no other living thing.

    Unless they’re fainting goats.

  76. 76.

    LiberalTarian

    September 4, 2008 at 5:35 pm

    Didn’t the people at RedState watch the teleprompter either? I mean, I gritted my teeth and watched the speech, but hell, I could have read it over her shoulder. I was kind of clear that it was getting away from her a little toward the end … all the drill baby drill hollers were interrupting her, and making her purse her lips in that not happy way.

    Whatever. Republicans lie like they breathe–constantly. Unfortunately. If they’d stop breathing we might be able to tell the zombies from the live ones.

  77. 77.

    vaux-rien

    September 4, 2008 at 5:37 pm

    They’re bringing an Andy Borowitz column to a gunfight

    This is clever, so full credit there.

    But you see with John McCain mired in the gulch between an unpopular president and a failing economy it’s important for the Dems to stay on high ground and behind cover. The knife wounds inflicted by George Bush and James Dobson make it impossible for McCain to raise his gun high enough to aim upwards so he’s limited to shooting from the hip.

    Needless to say this echos a scene from ‘Hombre’ where Paul Newman as the titular hero faces off against the aging former Paladin Richard Boone as the murderous Cicero Grimes.

    Or in other words, can we find a happy warrior to throw this metaphor under a bus?

  78. 78.

    Delia

    September 4, 2008 at 5:38 pm

    VOTE McNASTY–BARRACUDA 2008
    Yesterday’s High School Bullies for Tomorrow’s Disaster’s Today!

  79. 79.

    zzyzx

    September 4, 2008 at 5:39 pm

    Apparently tonight’s speech is going to show his plans for a McCain administration. In theory that’s good, but I don’t know if I can subject myself to John McCain giving an issues speech.

  80. 80.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    September 4, 2008 at 5:40 pm

    Your predictions?

    I’m not sure what’ll happen but I predict our millionaire press corp will fucking love it.

    What I’d like to see happen is John McCain do his own sorta Mission Accomplished-carrier landing-type entrance but, ya know, at the convention. You know he’d crash and tear up the plane and kill and maim a bunch of folks and set the place a burning but he’d eject just in time and then bust hisself up pretty bad cuz he’d be too low for a parachute to do any good. Mitt Romney and Rudy Guiliani would prolly beat him pretty badly before help showed up and then he’d have to give his speech from the infirmary all bandanged up but flashing a wan mavericky smile. Yeah, I’d really dig that.

  81. 81.

    Blue Buddha

    September 4, 2008 at 5:43 pm

    zzyzx Says:

    Apparently tonight’s speech is going to show his plans for a McCain administration. In theory that’s good, but I don’t know if I can subject myself to John McCain giving an issues speech.
    September 4th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

    McCain has a policy plan?! Wow! So far, the only thing he’s basing his platform on is “Obama sucks”, “drill more” and “cut taxes”.

  82. 82.

    w vincentz

    September 4, 2008 at 5:45 pm

    JC,
    My colorful language come from the GOP VP nominee’s attempt to reverse the gains made by women since the 60’s.
    I’ll tone it down.
    I do suggest that the opinion at the LA Times written by Gloria Steinem be read by all concerned.

    note: in this post, I made no mention of lipstick wearing pitbulls (whatever their gender).

  83. 83.

    DougJ

    September 4, 2008 at 5:45 pm

    This is your last damned warning. If you can not refrain from sexist language, something you have been warned about repeatedly, it is time for you to move along.

    What’s wrong with being sexy?

  84. 84.

    wasabi gasp

    September 4, 2008 at 5:46 pm

    McCain’s gonna fail. He will completely suck the life out of last night’s performances. Compared to Palin, he will appear artificial. McCain’s sad dog serious faces will be powerless in keeping the “straight talk” from smelling like bullshit. Rather, his faces will give the impression that he may actually just need to go take a shit. And thats the takeaway: go take a shit.

    No convention bounce for you! Next!

  85. 85.

    handy

    September 4, 2008 at 5:47 pm

    McCain has a policy plan?! Wow! So far, the only thing he’s basing his platform on is “Obama sucks”, “drill more” and “cut taxes”

    You’re forgetting the most important platform point, and I think we both know what it is.

  86. 86.

    Delia

    September 4, 2008 at 5:53 pm

    I thought McCain’s policy plan was to wave his magic wand and announce that in four years all our problems would be solved.

  87. 87.

    w vincentz

    September 4, 2008 at 5:54 pm

    OT- Jack Abramoff has been sentenced to four years.

    Does anyone know if the same lawyer that represented him is also representing a person from Alaska in an investigation called “troopergate”?

  88. 88.

    Dreggas

    September 4, 2008 at 5:54 pm

    Dogemperor is still there, though, and that stuff is just amazing – no one else is doing the research and work on the Joel’s Army/Dominionist people, I’m glad at least that someone is.

    (S)He’s one of my favorite diarists for that very reason.

    I still read the diaries there and find it to be a good place to catch snapshots from around the country and anything “BREAKING” but I find I don’t agree with a lot of the people there a lot of the time.

  89. 89.

    Jake

    September 4, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    McCain has a policy plan?! Wow! So far, the only thing he’s basing his platform on is “Obama sucks”, “drill more” and “cut taxes”.

    Uhmm…that is McCain’s policy plan. What, you didn’t get the memo?

  90. 90.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    September 4, 2008 at 6:01 pm

    Hey John, I am female, am I allowed to call Palin’s speech “bitchy”? Because to be honest that is exactly what it sounded like to me. It sounded like a High School Prom Queen contestant dissing her closest rival “and while she got a B+ on the English paper I got an A-, so there” It was also dripping with sarcasm, and as a wise old sage once said “sarcasm is the lowest form of wit” obviously the speech writer was asleep during that particular lecture in college. What on earth were the campaign thinking having her give such a snide, snarky, ugly speech? It almost seems to me that they were trying to make her seem snarky, bitchy and just plain unpleasant to be honest, it almost seems to me (as a woman) that they made her give the WORST possible speech that they could have for a woman, to make the woman look bad, or am I overthinking this?

  91. 91.

    Dennis - SGMM

    September 4, 2008 at 6:03 pm

    Heard Doug Holtz-Eakin, on NPR trying to explain the McCain health care plan. Essentially, it was “We’re going to give everyone a $5000 tax rebate.” When asked how they’d pay for that, Holtz-Eakin explained that they’ll tax employer-provided health care as income. The kicker was when he said that a family could buy good health care for $2400/year. Right. No mention of the fact that health care companies won’t take anyone with a pre-existing condition either. The irony is that McCain wouldn’t be able to purchase health insurance under his own plan because of his history of melanoma but, Bristol Palin would be equally unable to purchase health insurance because the companies consider being pregnant a pre-existing condition.

  92. 92.

    Rome Again

    September 4, 2008 at 6:04 pm

    Plus, they have a lot to answer for; they created Armando (AKA Big Tent Democrat). That’s a debt that needs to be repaid to society.

    I remember quite a few Armando wars early on, was he always a GOP plant, perhaps? Hmmmm!

  93. 93.

    phobos

    September 4, 2008 at 6:05 pm

    You’re forgetting the most important platform point, and I think we both know what it is.

    Which brings up the question: How many innocent fetuses would they drill through to reach a vast new source of guaranteed, domestic sweet crude?

  94. 94.

    Brachiator

    September 4, 2008 at 6:07 pm

    w vincentz Says:

    I do suggest that the opinion at the LA Times written by Gloria Steinem be read by all concerned.

    Here is a link to the Steinem piece (Palin: wrong woman, wrong message)

    It’s really not worth the time. Steinem is as old guard as Jesse Jackson. She believes that being a right-on woman is something only a bona fide liberal can be.

    But here is even better news: It won’t work. This isn’t the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. …

    Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton.

    She misses the point that for some evangelicals, Palin is more qualified than is McCain. And even though she clearly supports Obama now, Steinem is not up to speed on Obama’s more inclusive approach to looking at America.

  95. 95.

    Margarita

    September 4, 2008 at 6:07 pm

    Predictions:

    I will lapse into a coma within the first 12 minutes, having taken a shot of Patron for every time McCain says, “my friends,” “honor,” or “country first.”

  96. 96.

    LanceThruster

    September 4, 2008 at 6:07 pm

    John McCain and the “vision thing”:

    The Underpants Gnomes leaders of the Grand Old Party have a three-phase business plan, consisting of:

    1. Collect underpants

    2. ?

    3. Profit

  97. 97.

    Rome Again

    September 4, 2008 at 6:08 pm

    Hey John, I am female, am I allowed to call Palin’s speech “b***chy”?

    It wasn’t even her speech, she only read it out loud.

  98. 98.

    PC

    September 4, 2008 at 6:08 pm

    I thought McCain’s policy plan was to wave his magic wand and announce that in four years all our problems would be solved.

    McCain has been wanting to wave his magic wand since last Friday.

  99. 99.

    handy

    September 4, 2008 at 6:10 pm

    Armando just struck me as someone who wanted to pick a fight whenever someone formulated something in a way he didn’t like (even if he agreed with the underlying thought).

    DKos is a den of too many “earnest” people if you ask me, both in being wound tight and also being oddly delusional. You see a lot of “We have to hit them back HARD! They will never get away with it!”

    Yeah, you go, cowgirl.

  100. 100.

    Martin

    September 4, 2008 at 6:15 pm

    Dow off 350 points today. I predict mention of a strong economy.

    Oil down about 25% off its peak to $107/bbl. I predict mention of the rising cost of oil and how only drilling will lower it.

  101. 101.

    w vincentz

    September 4, 2008 at 6:20 pm

    @ phobos,
    It might have something to do with where embyonic stem cells come from. Crude is more important than expanding the cell lines, huh? Doesn’t oil cure cancer, cardio defects, parkinsons…an a whole lot more?
    While we’re at it, let’s cut NIH funding a bit more.
    Scientists certainly don’t need it. They can take a second job at Burger King.
    We have “wars” to fund, afterall.

  102. 102.

    zzyzx

    September 4, 2008 at 6:21 pm

    “We’re going to give everyone a $5000 tax rebate.” When asked how they’d pay for that, Holtz-Eakin explained that they’ll tax employer-provided health care as income. The kicker was when he said that a family could buy good health care for $2400/year. Right. No mention of the fact that health care companies won’t take anyone with a pre-existing condition either.

    So, not only are they not going to find a way of getting everyone health care, they’re actually going to get health care to fewer people. Two obvious questions:

    (1) What happens to people who don’t make enough money to pay $5000 in taxes?

    (2) When employers stop giving benefits to save money, how is this $5k going to be funded again?

  103. 103.

    JL

    September 4, 2008 at 6:22 pm

    The football game will probably end in time to show McCain’s speech. It’s unlikely after the Heidi incident that NBC will cut away for the speech but who knows. I’m going to be switching between the Roddick?Djokovic match.

  104. 104.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    September 4, 2008 at 6:31 pm

    I’ve got the speech right here: I was a POW, Obama is the antichrist, and if you don’t vote for McCain Palin I’ll drop this baby.

    I just hope they don’t accidentally leave baby Trig in the prop room when it’s over.

  105. 105.

    PSoTD

    September 4, 2008 at 6:31 pm

    I predict that his introduction will include some “tortured POW” descriptions. Everyone else has done it this week…

  106. 106.

    AkaDad

    September 4, 2008 at 6:33 pm

    I predict a whole lot of double talk, my friends.

  107. 107.

    nepat

    September 4, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    McCain will continue in exactly the same vein as Palin, fer cryin out loud. Are we all still buying the Maverick crap? Expect the POW story (now officially a symptom of Tourette’s), some kind of tortured twisting of his own elitism into a humble populism, and WAR WAR WAR WIN WIN WIN WAR WAR WAR. And I expect some more Obama lies and smears.

    I’m going to pretend I have a Neilsen box and not watch his speech.

  108. 108.

    Martin

    September 4, 2008 at 6:54 pm

    Um…

    We’re going to give everyone a $5000 tax rebate.” When asked how they’d pay for that, Holtz-Eakin explained that they’ll tax employer-provided health care as income. The kicker was when he said that a family could buy good health care for $2400/year.

    Interesting. The average cost for an employer to insure a family of 4 is $12,100. Further, the average employee contribution to their health care plan is $3300.

    Individual plans range from being much less expensive (good health) to infinitely expensive (pre-existing condition), but it’s reasonable to assume that the average across all individual plans (assuming that the pre-existing barrier was eliminated) would be in the ballpark to the employer-provided cost.

    $2400 is just bullshit lying.

  109. 109.

    croatoan

    September 4, 2008 at 6:54 pm

    Southern Strategy:

    You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger”—that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.

  110. 110.

    b-psycho

    September 4, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    I will lapse into a coma within the first 12 minutes, having taken a shot of Patron for every time McCain says, “my friends,” “honor,” or “country first.”

    Damn, Patron? Ladies & gentlemen, we have a baller here!

  111. 111.

    b-psycho

    September 4, 2008 at 6:58 pm

    Wow, I didn’t know WordPress could detect and warn against duplicate comments…

  112. 112.

    Rome Again

    September 4, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    Oops!

  113. 113.

    Teak111

    September 4, 2008 at 7:43 pm

    POW POW POW and now 911, 911, 911.

    Convention just showed all the greatest 911 vids. Is that all they have?

  114. 114.

    oh really

    September 4, 2008 at 7:46 pm

    I just heard Mitch McConnell declare emphatically that Republicans bear NO responsibility for the “do nothing” nature of the current Congress or the low poll numbers. Now, it’s true that Harry Reid makes it impossible to pretend that the Senate’s problems are 100% the fault of Republicans, not to mention the damage that Democratic dependence on Lieberman does, but it’s pretty amazing listening to such an unbelievable liar.

    The Democrats definitely need a much bigger majority in the Senate, they need to send Joe packing, and they must replace Reid. If they get two of the above three and retain Reid, as I expect they will, they deserve any and all blame directed at them.

  115. 115.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    September 4, 2008 at 7:49 pm

    Okay I am going in. I am going to leave the puter and watch the speech. Litlebritdifrnt +3 (2 glasses of wine and one heineken lite) COVER ME!

  116. 116.

    AnneLaurie

    September 4, 2008 at 7:49 pm

    $2400 (for health insurance) is just bullshit lying.

    “Bullshit lying” is the technical term for “GOP Economics”.

  117. 117.

    oh really

    September 4, 2008 at 7:58 pm

    PS

    I may need to have medical team standing by if I’m going to attempt to watch McCain’s speech tonight.

    There’s something overwhelming about the idea of the greatest hero in the history of Earth, the most courageous fighter for the poor and downtrodden, yes, the only human being ever to rival Jesus Christ for sheer perfection (and they say he cheated by being God)…there’s something overwhelming about the idea of listening to such a man utter a single word, let alone an entire speech.

    Besides, last night was just a warm-up. Prepare for the MSM to ramp up the praise to previously unknown heights. David Brooks will somehow find the speech to be infinitely greater than Obama’s miserable effort and quite possibly so great that its greatness could only have been possible with direct divine intercession.

    I doubt I could live through that without the need for defibrillation at least twice.

    On the other hand, I may need to be resuscitated because I’m so incredibly bored.

  118. 118.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    September 4, 2008 at 8:23 pm

    Okay bored now…. there is nothing going on.

  119. 119.

    Rome Again

    September 4, 2008 at 8:29 pm

    Ummm, I thought they weren’t supposed to play Van Halen’s “Right Now”?

    WTF?

    Is there any courtesy they won’t run roughshod over?

  120. 120.

    DonnaInMichigan

    September 4, 2008 at 8:36 pm

    ……..And on a trip to Hawaii with her parents,

    Cindy met a young lieutenant, named John McCain

    Scrapped the part of him being married at THAT time, and a father of 3…

    but hey it was love at first sight…and all that.
    ‘

  121. 121.

    DonnaInMichigan

    September 4, 2008 at 9:05 pm

    Here we go…another bio of McCain

    I mean how many times do they need to put this shit on?

  122. 122.

    SarahPA

    September 4, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    Ha! Green screen! Green screen!

    Oh, it’s just grass. But still, green!

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