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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2008 / Rearranging the Deck Chairs

Rearranging the Deck Chairs

by John Cole|  October 6, 200811:50 am| 86 Comments

This post is in: Election 2008, Lies, Damned Lies, and Sarah Palin, Republican Stupidity, Did You Know John McCain Was A POW?, I Read These Morons So You Don't Have To, Republican Crime Syndicate - aka the Bush Admin.

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You can almost hear a stirring rendition of Nearer, My God, To Thee as you read this post at Red State:

This is, in fact, the last week for John McCain to, on his own accord, shift the polling trends back in his favor. To do so, he must aggressively begin punching Barack Obama on issues that work to McCain’s advantage.

I think we’ve seen the beginnings of this with Sarah Palin going after Obama’s terrorist ties, which are extremely extensive and barely covered by the media.

***

It is time for McCain-Palin ’08 to change the narrative by aggressively going after Barack Obama on Fannie and Freddie. Force the issue before the public and an unwilling media. Force the tough questions. Certainly, Obama will push back, but McCain should easily be able to handle those questions — much easier than Obama can handle his questions.

I honestly have no idea why they think they have any credible way of tying Obama to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and even beyond that, I have no idea why they think that those two are responsible for the meltdown. Quite clearly, asserting that those two institutions are behind the current economic disaster is silly beyond even Red State standards, but they will attempt to push it anyway. Besides, didn’t they just spend the last six months deriding how long Obama has been in the Senate and how little experience he has? Now their message is that he alone is responsible for the entire economic meltdown by proxy, through his tenuous connections to partial players? The premise is laughable and, once again, reeks of flop sweat.

But if you want to talk about actual factual matters, we should look at some numbers and charts. When the Republicans took over the White House in 2000, the DOW was at around 10,600. Currently, the DOW is 9824. In 2000, when Bush and the Republicans took office, we had a budget surplus of about 230 billion. This year, we are expected to run approximately a half-trillion dollar deficit, and that was before the trillion we have tossed on to the national debt in the last few weeks.

But here is the most startling statistic- all previous forty-two presidents, in the history of this nation, had a combined national debt of approximately 5.5 trillion. George W. Bush and the Republican administration have almost doubled the debt of his 42 predecessors, as our national debt is over ten trillion (and that does not count all the chicanery with social security obligations and the like).

George Bush and Republican rule have been a DISASTER. There is no other term for it. John McCain may think he is being unfairly tarnished with this, but it is important to remember that he has been with Bush all the way on things, and intends to continue the Bush policies that helped to get us where we are. We are on the edge of a cliff, and John McCain wants to keep walking forward (no doubt his running mate things jumping would be a good leap of faith).

So whinge about Bill Ayers. Whine about Rezko. Babble to your heart’s content about Fannie Mae. Scream Freddie Mac and Barney “Fag” all you want. These are silly, last minute desperate distractions, and the American people know who is responsible for this mess. Good conservatives should be welcoming the electoral tsunami that is about to wipe Republicans off the map- after all, they are the ones always preaching about personal responsibility, right?

The only thing I do not understand is how there are still some reasonably intelligent people out the who would vote for Johnny Drama and Bible Spice. It makes absolutely no sense to me, other than raw tribalism.

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86Comments

  1. 1.

    Original Lee

    October 6, 2008 at 11:56 am

    Fox News has already started trying to tie Obama to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their special report last night was all about how the current financial crisis is the fault of the Democrats, who perfidiously used subprime mortgages to poor black and brown people to further their social agenda and wreck the the GSEs. Dodd and Obama were listed as the prime beneficiaries of GSE lobbying largesse, while McCain was praised for accepting only $22K from them.

  2. 2.

    Stuck in the Fun House

    October 6, 2008 at 11:59 am

    I can add nothing more to this laser focused rant on the results of republican governance.

  3. 3.

    Tim H.

    October 6, 2008 at 12:00 pm

    Maybe Kate Winslet will stand on McCain’s head naked in the next debate.

  4. 4.

    Gratefulcub

    October 6, 2008 at 12:00 pm

    Paul Begala on Sunday said, "Rapid Response is fine, but I’m more for Rapid Attack." Seems like Obama has always felt the same way.

    They sat on the Keating 5 story, and never even allowed themselves to publicly say ‘Keating’. When Palin started "palling around with terrorists that want to destroy america," Obama isn’t going to spend today answering that charge.

    Instead, he is saying, "look at their record, they want to change the subject. And, oh by the way, McCain was in the middle of the last financial meltdown, let’s talk about that."

    The narrative this week is not going to be about Bill Ayers, or the Rev. That is old news. It was explored throughout the primary. McCain being a corrupt pol who helped a felon get around regulation and caused a financial meltdown.

    They really do seem to be the best politicians of my lifetime. Sorry Big Dog, but they did start by taking you out.

  5. 5.

    SpotWeld

    October 6, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    Shortly after the ’00 election, there was (briefly) a collection of hard core left-wingers that consistantly stuck to the idea that Al Gore had been the "Real Winner" of the election. (And there is a book long dicussion on how that is true or not true.)

    The reality going forward was that George Bush was the president of the united states. Sadly a steadily diminishing number of bloggers and activists on the left held to that "Gore Won" narritive, well past the point where anything useful could be done about it. (Aside from some cautionary tales about election monitoring, maybe.)

    I suspect what we are seeing on Red State is the foundation for a similar core group of "true believers" that know the "truth" that McCain/Palin won.

    Given the right-wing ability to cleave to an "offical truth" (like the idea that we actually have found WMD in Iraq) I suspect that we will see a large number of bloggers, post-election, attempt to put thier truth above reality.

    The only question I see is, for how long will they be able to keep that up. If Palin becomes a blogger I suspect it could last until the 2012 election.

  6. 6.

    John Cole

    October 6, 2008 at 12:02 pm

    @Original Lee: Anything on Fox News should be considered as nothing more than preaching to the wingnut choir. The Fox organization as a whole is more discredited among moderates and independents than George Bush.

  7. 7.

    srv

    October 6, 2008 at 12:02 pm

    I don’t understand how reasonably intelligent people vote for Republicans OR Democrats. It makes absolutely no sense to me, other than raw tribalism.

    Will there be any blowback for Obama, Barney or Nancy on this clusterf**k of a bailout?

    Not here, I expect.

    I’m sure if Al or John had been elected, they would have been all over Wall Street.

  8. 8.

    El Cid

    October 6, 2008 at 12:03 pm

    I want the right wing and Republicans to pull out every piece of slime and nasty creature out from under the rocks, I want them to throw everything they can, every rotten bit of offal, every gangrenous pus-ball they can find.

    I want them not just to lose, but to get beaten, and most of all, to not once again start whining for the next 30 years about how ‘Oh man we really woulda won but we wuz forced to fight with one arm tied behind our backs…’‘

  9. 9.

    Comrade Jake

    October 6, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    The only thing I do not understand is how there are still some reasonably intelligent people out the who would vote for Johnny Drama and Bible Spice. It makes absolutely no sense to me, other than raw tribalism.

    I had lunch with an old friend recently. He’s a lawyer who plans to vote for McCain. He’s pretty much been a lifelong Republican. As we were discussing various issues in the campaign, he kept wincing going over some of the stuff McCain has done. He’s fully aware just how boneheaded/reckless McCain has been, and he’s appalled by the Palin pick.

    So why’s he still voting for him? He just can’t bring himself to pull the lever for a Democrat, and he expects his state to go heavily for Obama anyway. In other words, he knows that Obama’s the right choice here, but it’s kind of like asking a die-hard Yankees fan to admit the Sox have the better team. It’s not going to happen, even when the evidence is overwhelming.

    Still, the picture you get here speaks directly to the enthusiasm factor. If my buddy runs up against bad weather on election day, he’s not going to bother.

  10. 10.

    grandpajohn

    October 6, 2008 at 12:06 pm

    In the words of Dandy Don, " Turn out the lights, the parties over.
    So far today 4 state polls have been released.
    NH,PA, and 2 in VA, all 4 including VA are double digit Obama leads. If VA is now Blue then Mcshames parade is truely rained on

  11. 11.

    4tehlulz

    October 6, 2008 at 12:07 pm

    >>I honestly have no idea why they think they have any credible way of tying Obama to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and even beyond that, I have no idea why they think that those two are responsible for the meltdown.
    .
    Fannie and Freddie employed some minorities; they also made loans to minorities. Some of those minorities could not pay their loans. Ergo, it’s black people’s fault that the economy is making yearn for the good old days of…..1974. As such, by being black, it is by definition Obama’s fault for this crisis. Even worse, Obama PERSONALLY KNEW one of the minorities at FM. Racist.
    .
    Hell, they used BLACK ink on WHITE paper for their contracts, sullying perfectly good stationary; if that doesn’t illustrate the depths of their racism, I don’t know what does.

  12. 12.

    TheFountainHead

    October 6, 2008 at 12:08 pm

    Or, alternatively, they could just try and win the election this way.

  13. 13.

    CMcC

    October 6, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    You quote something that mentions "Obama’s terrorist ties, which are extremely extensive."

    This is good. Late, but good. It’s those damn 8-year-old terrorist bastards who truly threaten this nation. It’s about time those in power now started focusing on the root of the evil we face. Eight-year-olds (like Obama was in the late 60s when Ayers was a Weatherman) look so innocent, but we need to get them before they get us. Finally, it seems that the Republicans are getting their priorities in order.

    By the way, I wonder if McCain will now admit that Iraq was truly a distraction and a waste of resources.

  14. 14.

    pablo

    October 6, 2008 at 12:12 pm

    Obama’s terrorist ties, which are extremely extensive

    Yeah, he lives in the same neighborhood as a guy who did stuff 40 years ago, and has a middle name that a bunh of arabs share.

    going after Barack Obama on Fannie and Freddie

    He got a bunch of $100 campaign contributions from a few lower level employees, while Johny Mac’s right hand man got millions from the CEOs.

    Should be a game changer1 You betcha!

  15. 15.

    Rock

    October 6, 2008 at 12:12 pm

    srv — it’s true that Democrats suck too. The US government is broken as evidenced by the fact that politically they could not put together a "bailout" that would be effective (like Sweden in the 90’s or like what Roubini suggested). If Obama is elected, I know he will disappoint.

    But, you cannot argue there is no substantive difference between Republican and Democratic governance at the Federal level. The Clinton administration, for all it’s faults, displayed a basic level of competence that has eluded Bush and would elude McCain (as evidenced by his proposed policies). Basic competence will sadly not be enough I think to spare the US great economic pain, but I’ll take it over the alternative.

  16. 16.

    El Cid

    October 6, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    Bill Ayers in his wildest dreams never hoped to damage America as much as the truest America-haters around, the Republican Party.

    I’m starting to wonder if the Republican Party consciously or just sub-consciously tried to destroy the nation more than Osama bin Laden ever hoped to.

  17. 17.

    Original Lee

    October 6, 2008 at 12:16 pm

    John, you wondered where the tie-in was in the OP, so I thought I would show you one place where they were trying to establish the tie-in. That the McCain campaign is having to rely on a Fox News smear piece to establish a basis of authenticity for the charges just shows how desperate they are. Unfortunately, people who watch Fox News regularly are highly unlikely to know enough about the financial crisis to be able to snap out of their TV-induced hypnosis to wipe the drool from their shirtfronts and are therefore likely to embrace this meme like Smokey the Bear climbing a tree.

  18. 18.

    greynoldsct00

    October 6, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    The only thing I do not understand is how there are still some reasonably intelligent people out the who would vote for Johnny Drama and Bible Spice. It makes absolutely no sense to me, other than raw tribalism.

    That’s the really alarming thing John…they are out there. I have had discussions with a few people lately (one, who is a Repub, an older family member who can’t stand the thought of ‘black’ in the white house and the other is from Tennessee [enough said, I know]) who are otherwise intelligent, good people, who have every intention of voting for McCain. One of them is buying into the "terrorist" crap – she layed it on me just this morning. I just can’t wrap my head around it.

  19. 19.

    ninerdave

    October 6, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    I think we’ve seen the beginnings of this with Sarah Palin going after Obama’s terrorist ties, which are extremely extensive and barely covered by the media.

    Extensive terrorist ties? What the fuck are they talking about? Man, if they are this delusional before the election imagine after Obama wins.

  20. 20.

    BombIranForChrist

    October 6, 2008 at 12:21 pm

    Obama has "extremely extensive ties" with terrorists?

    He doesn’t have simply "extensive" ties, no. He has "extremely extensive ties".

    Red State is a perfect microcosm for what is happening to the GOP. Red State’s slavish devotion to Fantasy quickly falls apart when even the slightest wisp of Reality sets in.

    But don’t cry for Red State. After all, its point isn’t to actually change America. The point of Red State, Fox News, etc. is to feed the eternal victimhood of the down-trodden conservative, crushed under the heels of the liberal elite.

    Red State, Fox News, etc are parasites on the back of the people they claim to represent, and they will be fine as long as long as they can suck their own people dry.

  21. 21.

    ThymeZone

    October 6, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    I think this week is total implode week. The McPalin charade is going to cave in on itself with any luck.

    The Palin smears are getting no traction, even AP is cheerfully rebutting the smears in their wire copy. And of course, the economic news still dominates the airwaves despite McPain’s desperate attempt to "turn the page."

    The people are turning the page on McCain and his shitty campaign and complete lack of message or ideas. Woo hoo, go Johnny Go Go Go.

    I am extremely a lot super duper gleefully looking forward to the next debate. I have a funny feeling that this is where we start to run up the score on these fuckers.

    Who knows what rabbit the old geezer will pull out of his sleeve at the debate, but I would bet that Obama is ready for it.

  22. 22.

    Comrade Jake

    October 6, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    It’s time to acknowledge that the real terrorists work for the GOP.

  23. 23.

    Brian J

    October 6, 2008 at 12:25 pm

    I mentioned this in an earlier thread, but this seems like a good place to mention it again. Last night on Fox, there was some special, which I saw part of, that seemed to try to blame the economic crisis on Fannie and Freddie and then blame what they did on some Democrats, like Chris Dodd and Barack Obama. I shouldn’t really judge the special until I see it in its entirety, but if what I saw is any indication, it was propaganda in its finest.

  24. 24.

    Foxhunter

    October 6, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    Fannie and Freddie employed some minorities; they also made loans to minorities. Some of those minorities could not pay their loans. Ergo, it’s black people’s fault that the economy is making yearn for the good old days of…..1974.

    Pretty much sums up Neal Boortz and his topic du jour for the last few weeks…ergo, most people in Georgia hold that opinion (at least those outside the perimeter and some farming communities).

    Georgia has some interesting poll numbers WRT the Martin/Chambliss race and astronomical GOTV registration figures, but I still fear that zombie herd here in teh deep south will again vote against their best interests.

    It is interesting tho, to see more ‘W’ or ‘W…still the President’ stickers than McCain/Palin tags on my daily commute. Like they just cannot let go nor admit EPIC FAIL. See Peggy Noonan. She has waffled on the Palin pick about a dozen times…I think she is confused (about Raygun, Bush II, and Palin).

  25. 25.

    SGEW

    October 6, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    George Bush and Republican rule have been a DISASTER. There is no other term for it.

    Oh, come on. There are lots of other terms for it, such as "catastrophe," "debacle," "fiasco," "miserable failure," "ultimate SNAFU," or "apocalyptic clusterfuck." And I’m not even trying.

    The only thing I do not understand is how there are still some reasonably intelligent people out the who would vote for Johnny Drama and Bible Spice. It makes absolutely no sense to me, other than raw tribalism.

    I respectfully disagree. There are, as far as I can tell, exactly three reasons why even "reasonably intelligent" people* would vote for McCain/Palin:

    1) Abortion. Due to religious reasons** there are those who simply cannot vote for a pro-choice candidate. Sarah Palin has reassured these voters about the Republican ticket’s beliefs on this issue.

    2) War. "Reasonably intelligent" people can also be rampaging genocidal warmongers who want to see a good percentage of the Middle East turned into radioactive glass. Insane, I posit, but not unintelligent.

    3) Wealth. It is actually in the best self-interest of the top 1% of wealthy Americans to vote for McCain.

    In other words, tribalism alone need not explain these supporters. Luckily, there simply aren’t enough of these motherfuckers in the battleground states for McCain to win***.

    *A loose category, but that’s neither here nor there.
    **Which, in the opinions of many, automatically disqualify one from the "reasonably intelligent" demographic, but I’m not going there today, contra Bill Maher, Sam Harris, et. al.
    ***We hope! Still a lot of doors to be knocked on.

  26. 26.

    greynoldsct00

    October 6, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    It’s time to acknowledge that the real terrorists work for the GOP.

    Well said

  27. 27.

    Punchy

    October 6, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    I’ll say it again. I may take a few days off of work after the election and spend the entire day(s) trolling all of the Dan Rhiel, Hugh Hewitt, MMalkin, AnkleBitingPundit, and RedStates of the intertubes laughing my fucking ass off at the halirity. Childish? Perhaps. Cathartic? You betcha.

    I’m guessing I’ll be joined by about 1.87 million other lefties soooooo ready to give them a taste of their medicine. Prediction: RedState, FreeRepublic, ConYank, etc. ban ALL comments for a week after the election.

  28. 28.

    jrg

    October 6, 2008 at 12:27 pm

    I’m starting to wonder if the Republican Party consciously or just sub-consciously tried to destroy the nation more than Osama bin Laden ever hoped to.

    Sadly, OBL knew what he was doing, and the GOP played right into his hands. We’re all f*cked as a result.

    Red state fundies and social cons are just as ignorant as desert-dwelling Saudi terrorists, and OBL knew it. Most people did not think that Bush would lie to get us into a multi-trillion-dollar war, but OBL knew there was a good chance at this happening, because the crew OBL hangs with are basically napkin-headed rednecks.

  29. 29.

    srv

    October 6, 2008 at 12:28 pm

    The Clinton administration, for all it’s faults, displayed a basic level of competence

    When my mother, lifelong Dem and Economics PhD from the depression saw Clinton sign Gramm-Leach, she predicted the next fiasco would dwarf the S&L boondoggle.

    This stuff isn’t that hard. You don’t have to know the details of the method, you just have to understand their nature.

    Best of luck with Citigroups lessor of two evils.

  30. 30.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    October 6, 2008 at 12:29 pm

    This disconnects are truly amazing. If, in the Obama campaign:

    – There was video of Obama being prayed over by an African witch hunting pastor, who was praying to remove witchcraft from Obama.

    – Michelle Obama was a member of an organization whose leader said "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government".

    – If Obama had given a speech to open said organization’s convention.

    – If Obama had blurted out something about journalists "abusing the privilege
    of free speech".

    Any one of the above would have been game over.

    But it’s a well-run campaign, midget’n broom’n whatnot.

  31. 31.

    Comrade Peter J

    October 6, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    Check out the new Virginia polls, Obama +10 and +12.

    Asked for a comment, John McCain had this to say:

    That’s it man, game over man, game over! What the f*ck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?

  32. 32.

    Catfish N. Cod

    October 6, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    I swear, "Johnny Drama" made me think of Johnny Dollar. Only trouble is, Johnny Dollar was fiscally responsible…

  33. 33.

    Galen C.

    October 6, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    Now that the McCain campaign has (inevitably) chosen to go the full Rove-tard, I think the time has come for the Obama campaign to come up with some new messaging of its own.

    Team O seems married to the "change" theme, but I for one think "the change we need" and "change we can believe in" are fully played out. It’s time to get a little nastier and more direct while staying above the slime into which the McCain has dived headfirst. A couple of suggestions to get the ball rolling:

    "Don’t vote white after Labor Day"
    "Old Feller’s grown mean and dangerous, and it’s time to put him down"

  34. 34.

    Josh Huaco

    October 6, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    I honestly have no idea why they think they have any credible way of tying Obama to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and even beyond that, I have no idea why they think that those two are responsible for the meltdown.

    Because it’s obvious that the banks’ failing is the fault of Bill Clinton’s penis, who forced banks to give mortgages to shiftless minorities, who couldn’t repay because they’d already blown the money on rims for their welfare Cadillacs.

    I know this is true because it was on Fox last night.

  35. 35.

    ThymeZone

    October 6, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    I may take a few days off of work after the election and spend the entire day(s) trolling all of the Dan Rhiel, Hugh Hewitt, MMalkin, AnkleBitingPundit, and RedStates of the intertubes laughing my fucking ass off at the halirity. Childish? Perhaps. Cathartic? You betcha.

    Heh. The phrase "We won, get over it" comes to mind.

    Sign me up. That’s when we grab them by the throat and kick ’em in the ass, baby.

    Apologies to George S. Patton, as quoted on Free Republic :)

  36. 36.

    srv

    October 6, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    and OBL knew it

    Shandling had a great line on Bill Maher recently. He said something like "our only hope is that Osama dies from laughing so hard"

    I wish the Onion would pick that up

    *ah, JRG, I see that was a link to Andrews same comment! I need to find the youtube.

  37. 37.

    TheFountainHead

    October 6, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    I’ll say it again. I may take a few days off of work after the election and spend the entire day(s) trolling all of the Dan Rhiel, Hugh Hewitt, MMalkin, AnkleBitingPundit, and RedStates of the intertubes laughing my fucking ass off at the halirity. Childish? Perhaps. Cathartic? You betcha.

    I’m guessing I’ll be joined by about 1.87 million other lefties soooooo ready to give them a taste of their medicine. Prediction: RedState, FreeRepublic, ConYank, etc. ban ALL comments for a week after the election.

    I’d say I’d likely join you in that endeavor, but I’m afraid I’ll be far too occupied blasting "Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta" out of my apartment and dancing in the street. And then the 7th is my birthday, so then I’ll be doing the aforementioned while smashed.

  38. 38.

    JGabriel

    October 6, 2008 at 12:34 pm

    NinerDave:

    Extensive terrorist ties? What the fuck are they talking about? Man, if they are this delusional…

    I think you’re confusing "delusional" and "evil".

    .

  39. 39.

    Comrade Peter J

    October 6, 2008 at 12:35 pm

    Check out the new Virginia polls, Obama +10 and +12.

    Asked for a comment, John McCain had this to say:

    That’s it man, game over man, game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?

  40. 40.

    Comrade Peter J

    October 6, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    OT, I edited a comment to fix a blockquote mistake and then the comment gets flagged as spam…?

    Your edited comment was marked as spam. If this is in error, please contact the admin. – Close

  41. 41.

    SamFromUtah

    October 6, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    So why’s he still voting for him? He just can’t bring himself to pull the lever for a Democrat…

    IOW, raw tribalism.

  42. 42.

    malraux

    October 6, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    @ThymeZone:

    Who knows what rabbit the old geezer will pull out of his sleeve at the debate, but I would bet that Obama is ready for it.

    One of the things I find most impressive about the Obama campaign is the absolute lack of unforced errors and the minimization of forced errors. The Keating stuff popping up now is a good example. Pretty clearly it was a line of attack that Obama could have made at any point. But he just sat on it until McCain made it clear that he was going after this Ayers thing, then had it deployed faster than McCain could deploy his original attack. Sure Democrats need to learn to not just counter-punch, but Obama’s counter-punch faster than they can punch seems to work.

  43. 43.

    kilo

    October 6, 2008 at 12:40 pm

    You know, it’s hard to overstate how incredibly incompetent McCain’s team is.

    They’re now saying that the Keating 5 investigation was a smear job.

    Aravosis points out the logical conclusion – that defense means giving up his maverickiness.

    It’s like Obama just moved into position for a field goal, so they go ahead and concede the touchdown. They can’t think even one move ahead – no wonder they’re getting slaughtered.

  44. 44.

    rusty

    October 6, 2008 at 12:40 pm

    But… but… but…

    Earmarks! 18 billion. Earmarks!

  45. 45.

    ThymeZone

    October 6, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    In a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Monday afternoon, 59 percent of those questioned say that its very or somewhat likely that another depression could occur in the United States. Four in ten Americans say it not likely another depression will occur.
    The country went through a decade long depression following the stock market crash of 1929, in which roughly one out of four workers were unemployed, banks failed across the country, and millions of ordinary Americans were temporarily homeless or unable to feed their families.
    Eight in ten of those polled say things are going badly in the country today and 84 percent rate the economic conditions as poor.
    "The question on how things are going in the country is the longest trend on the public’s mood in polling history, and in 34 years, Americans have never had such a negative view," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "That 20% mark is an all-time low the makes the mood of the country worse today than it was during Watergate, the Iran hostage crisis, or the aftermath of 9/11."

    IOW, we are mad as hell and we are not going to take it any more.

    You are going to need more than Ayers and Rev. Wright, you silly assed Republican fucks. We are getting ready to take you to school.

  46. 46.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    October 6, 2008 at 12:43 pm

    My prediction for tomorrow night, or at least by the end of the third debate: Obama, with that incredible jujitsu of his, will goad McCain into a full-blown rage explosion.

    Good times. Best election ever.

  47. 47.

    malraux

    October 6, 2008 at 12:46 pm

    @Comrade Peter J:

    That’s it man, game over man, game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?

    Maybe we could build a fire, sing a couple of songs, huh? Why don’t we try that?

  48. 48.

    gbear

    October 6, 2008 at 12:55 pm

    Maybe we could build a fire, sing a couple of songs, huh? Why don’t we try that?

    Here’s one of the songs we can sing.

  49. 49.

    Tsulagi

    October 6, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    You can almost hear a stirring rendition of Nearer, My God, To Thee as this post at Red State was written

    God has abandoned you, you stupid RedState fuckers. Dumb asses claim to be the big picture see-ers, but they can’t even see the signs that hit them square in the face. God is pissed at you assholes.

    Think not? Remember the last two months before the 06 midterms? Each morning you could look out a window to see what the weather was like. Then turn on the TV to see which Pub that day was doing a perp walk or caught with his diapers down dragging his wife up to a podium to repent for the cameras. With Republican guys like “Do I make you a little horny?” Foley undressed as a retarded, perv version of Austin Powers adding extra laughs. It was like hand of God at work.

    But damn, seems that was just for shits and giggles. Now in the last two months before this election God is rolling out his bigger guns smiting the markets, evaporating trillions in equity in the time it takes Palin to wink through an answer, and making a mockery of your claim being the party that built an ownership society. Repent RedStaters before it’s too late! It’s clear, God is voting Democratic now. The terrorists have won.

  50. 50.

    Comrade Jake

    October 6, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    That’s it man, game over man, game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?

    That was by far one of the best quotes from Aliens.

  51. 51.

    Davis X. Machina

    October 6, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    Once again, the Democrats have to make a fast transition from singing "Happy Days are Here Again" to answering "Clean-up on Aisle Five".

    That’s the downside to being the Grown-Up Party.

  52. 52.

    Gus

    October 6, 2008 at 1:10 pm

    Anything on Fox News should be considered as nothing more than preaching to the wingnut choir.

    Sadly my mother-in-law, who considers herself a Democrat has become a Faux News devotee and is desperately searching for a way to avoid voting for Obama.

  53. 53.

    SGEW

    October 6, 2008 at 1:12 pm

    Just watched TPMtv’s roundup of th’ Sunday talk shows, and it simply shocking how obvious the Republicans are being about the unAmerican, McCarthyesque tactics they’re running with in the final month of the Election.

    For instance, when asked if they were questioning Obama’s patriotism, Republican Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico responded:

    ". . . [Obama’s] been critical not only the President, but American policy."

    As if this is AUTOMATICALLY UNPATRIOTIC.

    Yowza. They’re just totally upfront about it now. I can’t believe how obvious they’re being.

    This is the end, my friends.

  54. 54.

    chopper

    October 6, 2008 at 1:14 pm

    man, obama’s campaign just kung-fu’d the shit out of mccain.

    Roast Beef: jesus ray we got the chessboard out but you playin’ whac-a-mole

  55. 55.

    LiberalTarian

    October 6, 2008 at 1:15 pm

    Hey, I am more than willing to stop hating the GOP.

    I’ll stop hating the GOP when they stop trickling golden showers on me!

  56. 56.

    Anne Laurie

    October 6, 2008 at 1:15 pm

    Our RedState and FreeRepublic fellow-citizens wish to remind us that we have always been at war with Eastasia!

    Also — four legs good, two legs better!

    I wish I could remember where I first read, "The problem with today’s Republican Party is that they think Orwell was writing instruction manuals… "

  57. 57.

    Beth in VA

    October 6, 2008 at 1:15 pm

    Johnny Drama and Bible Spice

    You, sir, have just made my day with that phrase. You have a great way with words! I think this blogging thing may work out for you!

  58. 58.

    Davis X. Machina

    October 6, 2008 at 1:20 pm

    The Democrats might as well change their song from "Happy Days Are Here Again" to "Clean-up on Aisle Five".

    Such are the austere joys of being the Grown-up Party.

  59. 59.

    jj

    October 6, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    Here on the military base where I work, Obama stickers are outnumbering the McPale stickers by a ratio of at least 4:1.

    This is a far cry from when I started here back in ’06 and Bush/Cheney stickers were every goddamned where.

    From talking with my colleagues, many of whom are military officers who have done tours in Iraqi-stan, the rank and file don’t care anymore. They want out of Iraq and would elect Don Knotts if he could make good on the promise to get them out.

    To them, McCain is more of the same of the past 8 years- Some aging Burt Lancaster wannabe tough guy writing checks that end up getting cashed with the lives of their friends and families.

    Enough is enough.

  60. 60.

    Gus

    October 6, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    Jesus, I was checking the Dow. It went from -550 to -715 in the space of about 10 minutes.

  61. 61.

    Gus

    October 6, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    They want out of Iraq and would elect Don Knotts if he could make good on the promise to get them out.

    I really hope Obama makes good on that promise. He keep retreating from more ambitious withdrawal goals, and that worries me.

  62. 62.

    cleek

    October 6, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    -786 right now

  63. 63.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    October 6, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    I suspect what we are seeing on Red State is the foundation for a similar core group of "true believers" that know the "truth" that McCain/Palin won.

    Ummm, NO!

    For that to happen, an election has to be close. This one, not so much.

    ;)

  64. 64.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    October 6, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    @TheFountainHead: And the Republican’s will all be blasting this? Lotta bitches jumpin’ ship, eh?

  65. 65.

    SGEW

    October 6, 2008 at 1:55 pm

    @Beth in VA said: "You have a great way with words! I think this blogging thing may work out for you!"

    I honestly have no idea if this is sarcasm or not.

    Actually, I haven’t been able to accurately determine sarcasm for years now. Never mind.

  66. 66.

    chopper

    October 6, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    dow bounced back a lil, but late-afternoon selling might drag it down to -800. that’d be a day, eh?

  67. 67.

    abrxas

    October 6, 2008 at 1:59 pm

    John, there should be an award for best neologism of the election cycle. And with Bible Spice, you should win! Hilarious.

  68. 68.

    timb

    October 6, 2008 at 2:13 pm

    65 comments ago the Original Lee hit the nail on the head. Right wingers cannot accept that the "market" failed. it is an article of faith that markets cannot fail. As the tool Laura Ingraham noted today in her opening, the "problem" was "social engineering" the market by "requiring" mortgage lenders lend to minorities.

    Yep, 11% of the population is responsible for the mortgage failures, despite the fact that every economist in America noted those mortgages have a fine success rate and the problems were in the unregulated brokers. You know, the kind of people who would loan someone 500,000 on a house that just sold for 375,000 a year ago when the borrower had neither a job, nor a way to pay his balloon payment.

    But, conservatives ALWAYS blame the blacks for everything. It’s how they roll and we know it can’t be the fault of a greedy Republican and Democrat Wall Streeters.

    The Feddie and Fannie sideshow is because Dems ran them. Again, they are a sideshow, but it’s all they have.

  69. 69.

    alyosha

    October 6, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    @SGEW: Beth in VA was serious. I second her comment. I roared in laughter at "Johnny Drama and Bible Spice", as well as admiring the rest of your writing.

  70. 70.

    cintibud

    October 6, 2008 at 2:36 pm

    The only thing I do not understand is how there are still some reasonably intelligent people out the who would vote for Johnny Drama and Bible Spice. It makes absolutely no sense to me, other than raw tribalism.

    I don’t understand it either, but then again, living in Ohio I see a variation of it every year during the OSU – Michigan game. Michigan could be coached by Jesus and Ohio State by Satan and the Buckeyes could ritually dismember a kitten before every down and it wouldn’t dampen the party on High Street if the Bucks won.

  71. 71.

    kirkaracha

    October 6, 2008 at 2:49 pm

    [Obama’s] been critical not only the President, but American policy

    To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.

    — Teddy Roosevelt

  72. 72.

    liberal

    October 6, 2008 at 3:17 pm

    srv wrote,

    When my mother, lifelong Dem and Economics PhD from the depression saw Clinton sign Gramm-Leach, she predicted the next fiasco would dwarf the S&L boondoggle.

    Of course, some Democrats’ hands are dirty on this financial disaster. We’d expect as much; some of them (Schumer, Dodd) get huge contributions from the FIRE sector.

    But if you ask yourself, which party is the lesser of two evils, the answer is clearly the Democratic Party.

    Look at the recent bailout bill. There were some good reasons to be opposed (I thought the conditions guaranteeing taxpayer equity were far too weak, for example). But the nutjobs in one of the Republican conservative caucuses were saying that the long-term solution was to deregulate markets even more!

    Clearly, the solution is to wipe out the Republican Party, and replace Democrats who are in the pockets of the plutocrats with other, better Democrats.

  73. 73.

    Brachiator

    October 6, 2008 at 3:25 pm

    The only thing I do not understand is how there are still some reasonably intelligent people out the who would vote for Johnny Drama and Bible Spice. It makes absolutely no sense to me, other than raw tribalism.

    Yeah, it’s tribal. One woman who went to see Palin in Carson, California, noted that she felt that they could be friends. And a man noted that he liked Palin because she reminded him of his wife.

    None of this has a thing to do with her qualifications or her stand on issues like abortion. It has everything to do with the idea that she is "one of us."

    The connection with Palin is so primitive that these people don’t care that Palin is still sequestered from the press. She is like an incredibly lifelike mechanical doll, taken out of her case to dazzle the townfolk, and then swiftly put away before anyone really notices the flaws in the workmanship.

  74. 74.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    October 6, 2008 at 3:29 pm

    Neoconservative Republicans (the ones who are foolish enough to support McCain despite his lies) from top to bottom are deregulation disciples, this is not true of Democrats.

    The Republicans own this mess.

  75. 75.

    Billy K(hrushchev)

    October 6, 2008 at 3:52 pm

    Bible Spice

    Did you come up with that, Cole? That’s quite good.

  76. 76.

    Common Sense

    October 6, 2008 at 3:59 pm

    I think Bible Spice was a tbogg concoction, or at least that’s where I first heard it.

  77. 77.

    Polish the Guillotines

    October 6, 2008 at 4:54 pm

    To them, McCain is more of the same of the past 8 years- Some aging Burt Lancaster wannabe tough guy writing checks that end up getting cashed with the lives of their friends and families.

    Hey, ho there. No need to drag Burt Lancaster into the wingtard cesspool:

    Lancaster was an unabashed liberal activist, who frequently spoke out with support for minorities. He was also instrumental in the formation of many liberal groups, through financial support.

  78. 78.

    John Cole

    October 6, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    Bible Spice was in fact a TBOGG concoction, and I would say it is even better than my other favorite TBOGG name, which is the von Clausewitz of Chigger Creek.

    Comrade Jake in the comments first called McCain ‘Johnny Drama.”

    I am just an early adopter and have a keen eye for talent. :p

  79. 79.

    Florida Patriot

    October 6, 2008 at 5:23 pm

    Would you hire a teacher if he/she launched their campaign for city council at Bill Ayers’ home? Would you even hire a person as a babysitter for your children if that person hung out in the home of a well-known, unrepentant terrorist who targeted your local police and the Pentagon – a man who to this day thinks he did the right thing and takes pictures of himself grinding his feet in the American flag?

    Obama and some of you say it’s not a big deal because the Pentagon part happened when Obama was eight. This makes it worse because that means Obama knew about Ayers. It wasn’t like a long time friend just suddenly went off the deep end. Ayers is open about his past. Obama chose Ayers to launch his political career in Chicago – the same Ayers who "coincidentally" was Obama’s neighbor when Obama was a student at Columbia University. Ayers also solicited Khalid Al-Mansour to raise money for Obama’s Harvard law School education.

    There are already enough terrorists out to get us. We don’t need a president who will invite them directly into the White House for dinner.

  80. 80.

    SamFromUtah

    October 6, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    Florida Patriot said … gnarf gnarf gnarf

    Remember in the old Usenet days how the newsfroups used to post their FAQ periodically just to make sure everybody saw it?

    The wingnuts are doing this with their talking points in the blog comments these days.

  81. 81.

    ...now I try to be amused

    October 6, 2008 at 6:21 pm

    God has abandoned you, you stupid RedState fuckers. Dumb asses claim to be the big picture see-ers, but they can’t even see the signs that hit them square in the face. God is pissed at you assholes.

    Right wingers cannot accept that the "market" failed. it is an article of faith that markets cannot fail.

    I want to shout at right-wingers, "Where is your God Market now?"

  82. 82.

    Eural Joiner

    October 6, 2008 at 7:58 pm

    Hey Florida Patriot – you are sooooo right. I now suggest you cut all ties with the filthy traitors who put Obama and Ayers on that committee together.

    That would be the Annenberg foundation. One of the major contributors and movers and shakers amongst…the Republican party.

    Have a nice day.

  83. 83.

    limbaugh's pilonidal cyst

    October 6, 2008 at 8:37 pm

    Posted in Redstate, responding to Erick Erickson:

    We’re the ones living in lala land. We actually seem to think (at least those we elect do) that we can "work" with the Ds. Nobody seems to be able to figure out that they are the enemy and our job is to destroy them before they destroy the country. We’ve just about lost our chance.

    Well, he was non-delusional for one line, at least, the one where he admits that he’s delusional. And then proves it in the rest of his post.

    But, really, where does this come from? It’s psychotic in its divorcement from any reality. He thinks that republican politicians want to "work" with the Democrats when all they’ve done for two years is obstruct everything Democrats try to do, then accuse them of being a "do-nothing" Congress. We’re the "enemy", based on what, exactly? For demanding that this administration follow the law of the land and respect the Constitution, the foundation of our Democracy? How does that destroy our country? And now his self-appointed "job" is to destroy us?

    Talk about la-la land. And he’s not alone. This really is pathology worthy of a DSM definition.

    I don’t want to fight with these people anymore. I don’t want to "destroy" them, but I do think that they need to be marginalized as much as possible, for our country’s sake, and that the right-wing noise machine that feeds their paranoia and resentment needs to be addressed. I know that the Democratic administration and congress have a lot on their plate over the next few years but it’s time to revisit and re-establish the fairness doctrine, among other reforms of the public airwaves.

  84. 84.

    Conservatively Liberal

    October 6, 2008 at 8:54 pm

    Shorter Florida Patriot: Anyone fuck a goat recently? I did, but I had to sneak into the local petting zoo after hours because I can’t afford to own one.

    No, but if you head over to Confluence just look up myiq2xu GoatBoy. I heard that he shares his goats with anyone.

  85. 85.

    TenguPhule

    October 6, 2008 at 10:53 pm

    There are already enough terrorists out to get us. We don’t need a president who will invite them directly into the White House for dinner.

    Then why’d you vote for Bush?

  86. 86.

    TenguPhule

    October 6, 2008 at 10:55 pm

    Florida Patriot Tory: Viva King George!

    Fixed.

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