John McCain's Brain Fails Mainly Regarding Spain

By George he's lost it...

By George he's lost it!

And thus, the Senator finds himself in what appears to be an embarrassing if not potentially damaging proposition: either admit to confusing the name of the Spanish prime minister, a tough pill to swallow even with the built in perception that he is the candidate with foreign policy know-how, or explain away a position on U.S.-Spain relations that appears far outside the mainstream.

Perhaps, the animosity can be explained more easily: John is still remembering the Maine!

Rub Her Nose In It

This is awesome:

Click here and you can make a donation to Planned Parenthood--in Sarah Palin's name!

They will even send her a card (if you put down the McCain Campaign address.)

New Coke Redux

The Bill Gates-Jerry Seinfeld ads? Cancelled.

UPDATE:

Oh, Lord. The replacement sounds much, much, much worse.

Really, a John Hodgman lookalike?

The irony, of course, is that:

Hodgman : lame, cheap knock-off of Hodgman :: OS X : Windows.

Today's Political Ponderable

Is winning the Presidential election as simple as this:

The funnier candidate wins?

2004. Bush funnier than Kerry.
2000. Bush funnier than Gore (v. 2.000).
1996. Clinton funnier than Dole.
1992. Clinton funnier than Bush.
1988. No award given.
1984. Reagan funnier than Mondale.
1980. Reagan funnier than Carter.
1976. No award given.
1972. McGovern, least funny candidate in sixty years?
1968. Humphrey, second least funny candidate in sixty years?
1964. Johnson funnier than Goldwater.
1960. Kennedy funnier than Nixon.

Funny = "more human" = "more relatable."

Keep an eye on the zinger war.

How to Influence Seniors and Win Elections

It's really simple.

John McCain and George Bush wanted to privatize Social Security in 2005.

"Hey Seniors, how would your Social Security look if it was all in the market today?"

End of discussion.

One thing is for sure

Obama's zingers are getting better.



Burn.

The Canon 5D

The best trend in Digital SLR cameras is adding the ability to shoot 1080p High Def Video.

Leave John McCain Alone!

Apparently Sarah "Boom-Boom" Palin gets really indignant with Fair and Balanced(tm) "journalist" Sean Hannity about the Democrats being mean to John McCain for saying that the fundamentals of the economy were strong.

Initially, I think she was told to just point out that McCain was quoting President Hoover on the day after Black Tuesday, 1929 when he said the same thing. Apparently she declined because she didn't believe that a vacuum cleaner was ever President.

They are cheap. They are easy.

But I still love them:

John McCain Invented the Blackberry

Sarah Palin is your new Segway

The Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator

(Mine is "Spoon Archer Palin.")

Lady de Rothchild III, Esq., Inc., LLC

Something tells me that in a week where you are making one calamitous gaffe after another and the economy is going to hell in a handbasket, getting the endorsement of a former Hillary Clinton fundraiser, and billionairess isn't quite the get for John McCain right now.

byeCarly

Fiorina iced.

Why 2008 Matters

And now, a special comment by Greg Ostrander:

While I can appreciate that there are tactical reasons to run on the economy and the war, from where I sit there are far larger issues at stake in this election. There are certainly points on which I disagree with Obama, but he is a very smart man who cares about the large and serious issues that confront our country, and though he has not emphasized it recently, I believe he has the background to address one of the most pernicious legacies of the Bush administration.

One aspect of this election that gets lost in the shuffle as the campaign highlights the economic concerns facing our nation is the dramatic loss of our moral compass over the last eight years. Russia doesn't feel any need to listen to moral suasion from a country that engaged in torture in Iraq, "extraordinary rendition" throughout the world (an oblique way of saying kidnapping without judicial process with an end result of harsh interrogation if not torture), and a war based on trumped up claims of WMDs and links to 9/11. The economy is certainly important, but our nation was founded on principles that go beyond the current economic outlook, principles that have truly been endangered by the vast and arrogant expansion of Presidential power the current administration has engaged in.

Obama is a constitutional law expert, and has the fortitude to make hard choices without imperiling the constitutional goals that are the true source of the greatness of our country. McCain heralded a recent Supreme Court decision that granted rights to detainees as one of the worst in our history, a shocking interpretation of a decision that allows individuals against whom no charges have been brought to challenge their detention in federal court. This is one of the most fundamental aspects of the rule of law: that an executive authority does not have unilateral power to lock someone up and throw away the key without a check by another branch of government to confirm that such detention is appropriate. Bush has repeatedly attacked such rights as incompatible with his view of executive prerogative. McCain has now indicated a clear agreement with this approach, and whether through repeated arguments, by ignoring the Court, or by replacing a current liberal with a far right justice it is clear that he will continue this unprecedented attack on the very core of our constitutional system. We can't afford another 4 years where the basic elements of our system are under relentless attack. The price is too high.

I have been too sanguine regarding this election up until now. I just couldn't see how the people of this nation could stomach the ticket the Republicans have offered and the absolute failure of the Republicans to put forth any positive ideas regarding the challenges we face. We can't afford to be complacent any longer. There is still time before the election to make a real difference in the communities we live. The Obama campaign has done a remarkable job of building the organizational infrastructure necessary to make sure that your time and energies aren't wasted. Here is the link for the "neighbor to neighbor" page on Obama's website, but there are other ways of helping the campaign and I would encourage you to explore the website and get in touch with your local office to find a way to volunteer in a manner that fits your personality. If time is a luxury that you don't have enough of, I would encourage you to donate here which will provide for a doubling of your contribution if it is made prior to Friday. And if you want to get fired up about what Obama's candidacy means to this country, and all of the different types of people who are our fellow Americans, I would suggest you click here.

Regards,
Greg

Rove Protested at Claremont McKenna

For some inexplicable reason, Claremont McKenna invited Karl Rove to speak at their Athenaeum lecture series yesterday. Fortunately due in no small part to the adjacency of Pomona College, he was heckled before, during and after his speech.

Chirp.

Bait and Switch?

Why did Bill Clinton send out an email today decrying the slimy attacks of the Republicans, tell me how we need to all come together and get Barack Obama elected, and then offer to let me donate...

...to Hillary Clinton's campaign?

If McCain Ever Takes Questions Again

A reporter really needs to ask John McCain if he thinks it's a good thing that his economic advisor Carly Fiorina got a $42 million golden parachute from Hewlett-Packard in light of the 24,600 layoffs that Hewlett-Packard announced today.

Et tu, Carly?

A radio talk show host asks humor-deficient former HP CEO Carly Fiorina if Sarah Palin is qualified to be CEO of HP.

Carly's answer: no.

Mr. Cellophane

Dramatis Personae

Richard Gere as Rick Davis, John McCain's campaign manager
Renee Zellweger as Sarah Palin
John C. Reilly as John McCain

MoveOn Hits One out of the Park

I love this: it hits McCain twice, once politically and once personally--which I think is the secret of all effective attack ads. Politically, on his lobbyist pals/his puppeteers. Personally, on his mockable "my friends" tic--which even his own campaign can't stand to hear him use.

Barack 101

There are only a few more weeks of voter registration in most states.

That means, by the beginning of October, the entire universe of voters will be set. That's it. No more.

What this means is: once October begins, there are only two ways for Obama to increase his support:

1. Persuading undecided voters and converting wavering Republican voters.
2. Making sure that every single voter who supports Obama votes on election day.

As November draws closer, I'll talk more about about the way to make sure everyone votes. But for now, the focus has to be on persuasion.

The Obama campaign will be focused on persuasion through their advertising, debate performance and their attempts to control their message through the media. This is the effort that will be coming from the top, down to the people. This is what all of your donations are financing.

However, there is an even bigger and more important persuasion effort raging right now. Every single Obama supporter in the country is a surrogate for the campaign.

You are trying to convert your friends, or your sister-in-law in a swing state, or a friend at work that may be listening to a little too much conservative AM radio.

The only way this is going to work is if everyone contributes to this effort non-stop for the next 49 days.

The only way we are going to be effective surrogates for the campaign is if we can frame the issues effectively and confidently make the clear distinctions with John McCain and his policies.

The only way to do that is to be informed.


Welcome to Barack 101.

Every one of you has an assignment this week. Mandatory. No exceptions.

You must read this Daily Kos diary.

You can print it out and read it. But then you must read it online. And you must click on at least a few of the links.

Bookmark it. Go back to it. You don't have to cram Palin-style, but make yourself as familiar with the details as possible.

Your final exam will be November 4th.

The good news is that it's Pass/Fail.

The bad news is that it will not be offered again.

Your Move, John

After getting called out by his previous supporters in the real media, Fox News, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch and even Karl Rove himself, John McCain--already running against his own party who has been the incumbent power for the past 8 years--may have only one option left:

McCain must denounce the slimy tactics of his campaign and start running against himself.