Just kind of disgusted with politics in general, and this is a thread for you all to do the blogging.
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by John Cole| 65 Comments
This post is in: Election 2008, Politics, Previous Site Maintenance
Just kind of disgusted with politics in general, and this is a thread for you all to do the blogging.
Comments are closed.
cleek
two weeks left.
and for me, it’s over today – thank the lard for early voting.
burnspbesq
It can still go lower.
Poll: Yes on 8 Leading
And I would venture to guess that we haven’t seen or heard the worst of the misleading TV and radio ads in support of 8 (anti-gay marriage rights) or 11 (Republican power grab on Congressional reapportionment process).
Josh Huaco
I think everyone in this country deserves a week-long paid vacation after November 4, where any talk of politics will be punished with swift rendering to Gitmo. That and free margaritas for all.
matt
John, do you think you’re going to get a Von Hoffmann Award for your peak wingnut theory? That was like the worst. timing. ever.
gbear
Pretty damned low. McCain’s appearance with Chris Wallace yesterday showed that when it comes to sleaze, McCain’s personal bottom has fallen out.
greynoldsct00
Morning all
I’m still disgusted with Todd Palin holding that Charles Manson sign…I’m afraid of what they could pull out that would be lower.
4tehlulz
>>McCain’s personal bottom has fallen out.
Leave Chris Matthews out of this.
matt
Yeah, that was difficult to watch. I think TPM has the video. At least it might once and for all put an end to this bizarre idea that McCain somehow isn’t aware of what his campaign is doing.
Conservatively Liberal
Join the group, I hear that it is a large one and getting larger by the day. I got nothing new to add since it is all the same old usual shit, just a different day. Listening to Washington Journal this am and I notice that the right wing callers are fixated on ‘Obama is a socialist’ and ‘Obama is a neo-lib, who are in cahoots with the neo-cons’. You just can’t make up stupid shit like that, those people actually believe it.
I guess being on the right is ok for some because they can check their brains at the cloakroom, no need for one. Just parrot the talking points and barring that, jumble the talking points into one big mess of words (Palinites) and deliver it with such ferocity that nobody wants to argue with you because they are afraid of being bitten and catching rabies. That is another reason the wingnuts love Palin, she makes them all feel smarter just knowing her.
It’s simple to understand why: It’s awful easy to look smart when you are standing next to an idiot.
Conservatively Liberal
Argh! The BJMod Gawd et me post!
Comrade Scrutinizer
Well, in the 1800 election, one of Jefferson’s surrogates said that John Adams was “a hideous hermaphroditical character” and a “repulsive pedant”.
We haven’t reached the nadir that campaign reached—not by a long shot. Scope out "A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America’s First Presidential Campaign" by Edward Larson.
Compared to those guys, these guys are wimps.
gbear
@gbear @ 5:
Here’s a link to McCain supporting his robocalls. I’ve seen some other clips too but can’t remember where. The whole interview went as bad as this TPM segment.
dewberry
The rank smell of desperation in the air means that things can still get lower.
Early voting starts in Texas today. I usually like to vote "on the day" because that feeling of democracy in action is very soothing to me. But, I’ll be voting early this year to seal up my vote. I just have to finish figuring out who to vote for in all the judicial races.
Rick Taylor
Good question. I’m hoping the few Republicans who’ve spoken out against the sleaze like Colin Powell will restrain the McCain campaign from diving as deep as they might. It’s a feint hope, but you never know.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@matt:
Wow.
Wow for two reasons: McCain was defending the sleaze, and Wallace (on FOX!) was going after him.
Josh Huaco
@Rick Taylor:
Yes, it would be feigned hope, concern trollery at its finest by the GOP.
Punchy
I suspect things will devolve from "palling around with terrorists" to outright "we cannot be sure he’s not a terrorist" or the Perfect Storm of Lies with "his Muslim background will allow him to bomb the Pentagon at will, with help from his old college roomate, Bill Ayers, and being a Scary Negro, is likely to demand slave reparations in the form of $5000 from every cracker in the USA"….
It’ll get bad. REALLY bad.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
@greynoldsct00: Palin wasn’t holding the sign. It’s still damn disgusting that McCain staff allowed someone to bring it in.
dmsilev
Well, let’s see. There are 15 days left. Extrapolate the McCain Nastiness Index, modulate by the Palin Palling Factor, carry the two…
Uh oh.
Are you familiar with the shape of the event horizon around a black hole? An asymptotic approach to negative infinity?
-dms
Kenneth Guffnagle
"I don’t care about some old washed-up terrorist"
and on this, the American people are in complete agreement with JM.
unfortunately for him, fewer and fewer seem to care about some old washed-up anger monkey of a senator.
Svensker
Much as I dislike Todd, he wasn’t holding the sign. It was some clown in the foreground of the picture. Todd’s head just happened to appear above the sign.
jon
If Proposition 8 passes, will there be a lawsuit challenging all marriage rights in California? If so, it could win on equal-protection grounds. Think about it: even if the state constitution allows for marriage to be only between a man and a woman, that still doesn’t mean the state has the right to discriminate. And to take this to its illogical logical extreme point, that could mean that no marriage is constitutional since marriage itself isn’t. And poof! go the special rights of the straight and married.
Libby
Well, I’m sick of the false equivalency. I collected a week’s worth of hate in one post. Rather breathtaking to see it all in one spot. And that was just in a week.
Libby
Special prominence for Pat Buchanan who drops all pretenses and goes straight to overt bigotry. Tweety to his credit called him out on it. (video)
The Moar You Know
@burnspbesq: Where are they getting their numbers? Ahhh, Survey USA. The most recent Field poll shows Prop 8 losing 55 to 38 percent.
I’d like some numbers on Prop 11, not real happy about that one and the ads are horrific.
burnspbesq
The implosions on the Right are increasing in both frequency and intensity. Sit back and enjoy the show.
Jeff
A lot of McCain voters probably already believe it because, you know, those black people stick together.
I actually asked someone who said Barack Obama was racist whether they thought he was racist against his father or mother. It made her head spin and she started going off on yeah, how black is he? She made my head hurt.
nicethugbert
@greynoldsct00:
Next, they’ll be mooning for the camera.
Shouting at the Rain
Stupid question time:
What’s a "MUP"?
The Moar You Know
So much for that McLegacy.
jake 4 that 1
I’m surprised they haven’t sprung Larry Sinclair from jail and paraded him around.
Not My Fault
My vote for Barack Obama goes out in the mail today.
I’m thinking it is a pretty good day.
Now, If I could just rig my ballot like one of those annoying greeting cards, so that it would play the Obama ring tone when it was opened.
That would be a perfect day.
burnspbesq
@The Moar You Know:
How recent is that Field data? Anecdotally, I have noticed a marked increase in Yes on 8 bumper stickers and lawn signs in Los Angeles and Orange Counties over the last 7-10 days. And a total absence of public expressions of opposition by ordinary voters.
Jeff
@burnspbesq: Do you know of a good voter guide for the CA props. I only know about 8.
Josh Huaco
@Shouting at the Rain:
MUP = Magical Unity Pony (i.e. Barack Obama)
Libby
On a positive note, You can haz pictures of Kansas City Obama rally. Held after the big St. Louis rally and 75,000 showed up to this one.
Bob In Pacifica
How low? How about Forty-Niner low?
I think that Prop. 8 is a good example of how easy it is for people to vote away other people’s rights. You could probably get 30% voting in favor of banning miscegenation. Or for removing voting rights for minorities.
I suspect that Prop. 8 isn’t even constitutional under California State law, so if the pitchfork shakers weren’t upset before, imagine how they’ll be if the damned thing passes and then is thrown out by that commie librul cali supreme court.
Jeff
@Bob In Pacifica: Prop 8 is an amendment to the CA constitution, so by definition it is constitutional.
Lynn
Obama and Ayers served together on a local board, and met each other half a dozen times, to talk about improving this country’s system of education.
Obama and McCain serve together in the Senate, and met each other professionally… hundreds of times?
Republican logic:
If Ayers is a washed up old terrorist
And Obama has a professional link to Ayers
Then Obama is a terrorist
So….
If Obama is a terrorist
And McCain has a professional link to Obama
Then… McCain is a terrorist?
Check my logic on that. But it seems fair. This is all just silly- have they thought ahead, at all? Senator Obama, or even President Obama, considered a terrorist by his own country? I bet that will help rebuild our national optimism and motivation. He’s a Senator, for god’s sake.
greynoldsct00
Thanks Comrade Mary, obviously I didn’t have the fortitude to actually watch the video — I think I saw that post before coffee. But yeah, still hideous that it was there in the first place.
David
Many seem thankful that it’s "almost over"; I’m worried that it’s only just begun. The ugliness of the electoral campaign won’t magically end just because the election’s been held and a winner’s been declared. My fear is that we’ve reached a new and divisive low that will further cripple our government’s ability to function, and whoever gets elected will pay the price.
There will be no end of conspiracy theories abroad in the land when Obama wins; and, if the almost unthinkable happens and McCain wins, there will be riots. At least.
So let’s not congratulate ourselves too soon. If and when Obama wins, the hard work has just begun, and the mud-slinging, too.
ppcli
This has been an unusually sleazy campaign by contemporary standards, but let’s remember that statements like "this is the worst ever" are silly hyperbole.
.
For example: Among the many reasons to be glad Edwards wasn’t nominated is that it could have meant the return of the chant "Ma, Ma, where’s my pa? Gone to the Whitehouse – ha, ha, ha."
Natascha
When this election season is all done and over with, I’m really gonna miss the ad where a retarded 10 yr old gal is carrying a primitive picture book (titled King and King) and tells her mommy she learned she could be t3h gay in school.
With the CA economy basically going bankrupt and all, that kid would be lucky to even have a teacher.
Punchy
@Jeff: what Jeff said. Unless it’s found to be unConstitutional under Federal law, in which case (correct me if I’m wrong) the Fed Consty supercedes any State Consty.
Emma Anne
I think you all are underestimating our MUP. Yeah, things will be ugly after he wins*. But Obama is no Bill Clinton. Clinton wanted to be liked by everyone. He could be rolled by the opposition. Plus, Obama has the advantage of having witnessed the Clinton era – he won’t underestimate the crazy.
* Those who still think he won’t win ought to witness his campaign in Colorado. I have never seen anything like it.
jake 4 that 1
Yep. The knuckledraggers will interpet it as open season on anything that "Looks Lieberul."
Pile up the corpses of the evile, Islahomo hippies at the feet of the Moose-stepping queen!
gbear
I read that too quickly and thought it said Palinties at first, as in: Don’t get your palinties in a bundle. I guess that would have worked for Tim Pawlenty too.
burnspbesq
@Jeff:
Yesterday’s print edition of the LA Times had a good one. Assume it’s online, but haven’t looked.
Unrepentent Dennis - SGMM
The current Supremes wouldn’t take the case. Finding the prohibition of gay marriage unconstitutional would automatically strike down any such laws now on the books in any state. States’ Rights is invoked at the pleasure of conservatives, rather than in any orderly way.
Brian J
I’ll try to stick to the content at hand in each thread, so I’ll post this here.
How awesome is it that Obama raised so much money in September? Well, he’s essentially bought out all of the remaining time left that there is to run ads in this election cycle. He’s going to spend $5 million in West Virginia, which is an incredible sum of money according to Andrea Mitchell. I have no idea if that’s influenced by him having to play catch up in the state or how big that is compared to previous expenditures in the state, but still, at the end of "Meet the Press" yesterday, she seemed genuinely stunned he had so much money to throw around and what it could mean for the race.
bedlam UK
I’m personally stunned by the current news stories regarding the voting machines ‘accidently’ turning Dem votes into Rethug votes.
If you dont spot it and change it, you’ve just voted for McSickning and Sarah Hatin’
How can you have a voting system that doesn’t have a recording system to ensure neutrality? how can you have machines built by a company that is a Rethug supporter?
Where is the paper trail that can be checked??
For FSM’s sake its beyond stupid.
bedlam UK
Oh, and Brian J;
Obama made $150 million? well you might like this:
Rated to a monthly average, the following 46 countries have a Gross National Income of less than $150 million:
Libya, Somalia, Iraq, Sao Tome and Principe, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Tonga, Guinea-Bissau, Vanuatu, Comoros, Dominica, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent, Equatorial Guinea, Grenada, Gambia, Liberia, Bhutan, Seychelles, Maldives, Djibouti, Cape Verde, Saint Lucia, Antigua, Guyana, Eritrea, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Belize, Suriname, Mongolia, Central African Republic, Mauritania, Lesotho, Tajikistan, Togo, Kyrgyzstan, Swaziland, Moldova, Chad, Malawi, Fiji, and Nicaragua.
Of that list, the first seven had a GNI of less than $150 million for the entire year of 2007.
Perry Como
Obama is playing chess, McCain is playing Chutes and Ladders.
boctaoe
Wasn’t Michele Bachmann the lady at the 2007 State of the Union address who was inappropiately touching Pres. Bush and then asked him for a kiss? She’s still acting crazy. Hope they dump her.
D-Chance.
How low?
Well, Tokyo Mitch is now comparing a potential Obamamerica regime to that of Robert Mugabe‘s in Zimbabwe…
Rick Taylor
Excuse me? That doesn’t even make sense.
liberal
@Unrepentent Dennis – SGMM:
You can say that again.
burnspbesq
@liberal:
Au contraire, mes amis.
One of the ways that one can distinguish a real conservative from a mere Republican is by their approach to federalism. Conservatives really believe in federalism, unlike Federalist Society types who see it as a tool, to be deployed or not depending on whether it advances the particular goal at hand.
And opportunistic hypocrisy is actually "an orderly way." It’s unprincipled, but it’s orderly (and quite predictable).
bago
Ask Chuck D. He’s got a theory.
Joe Max
It might be the best way to shake this out. The government shouldn’t be in the business of marrying people anyway. The government can simply offer Domestic Partnership contracts to anyone who applies, and leave the whole idea of "marriage" to religious institutions. No church can be required by law to marry anyone contrary to their religious doctrine: they can’t require Catholic churches to marry divorced people, or force synagogues to marry non-Jews, so no church can be forced to marry same-sex couples either.
Problem solved.
Zuzu's Petals
@burnspbesq:
Well, Prop 11 doesn’t change the current congressional redistricting process, just that for state districts.
Smart Voter analysis
Personally, I’d like to see all of it taken out of the hands of the state legislature. This version seems like the best alternative so far, though, and the League of Women Voters supports it. They have been big proponents of redistricting reform across the country.
Zuzu's Petals
@bedlam UK:
Oh crap. Crap crap crap.
More W.Va. voters say machines are switching votes
Jay in Oregon
One for the "credit where credit is due" files:
Muslin McCain supporters (and even one self-identified conservative Christian) confront another McCain supporter pushing the "Obama is a stealth Muslim" attack at a rally.
This should be played outside every McCain rally for the rest of the election cycle.
http://newsproject.org/videos/158
I don’t agree with McCain’s policies and think he would be a disaster as president, but if the GOP wants to be a viable political party after this election, they need to shed the rabid crazies.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
While the idea of living under another 4 or 8 years of Republican rule is unthinkable, it is not Democrats who are currently resorting to violence.
I went to Kos to catch a glimpse of what’s in the news, and I find no fewer than three currently recommended diaries telling of a dead bear cub with Obama campaign signs dumped at a university, 30 Obama rally attendees tires being slashed and death threats left in mailboxes of those with Obama signs on their lawns.
Republicans are the ones resorting to violence.
Johnny Pez
I predict that before election day, either McCain or Palin will "accidentally" drop the N-bomb. Mark my words.