Leppotone

I just get the impression that the current administration bought his soul sometime in the last few years.  He used to come off as something of a moderate.  No more.  He totally rolled over and got paid off at some point. I get every impression that he intends to toe the line that’s been drawn by the money-men who currently power the Republican party.  

I believe that electing McCain would mean:

1.  Continuation of the endless war to fuel and sustain the military industrial complex, which lines the pockets of  wealthy lobbyists and corporate heads and demoralizes and bankrupts everyone else in our country and in the countries that we are invading and attempting to colonize in one of the most nakedly aggressive natural resource-grabs ever.

2.  Continuation of the attitude that there’s no need to respond to global warming, despite the fact that NASA scientists recently released their findings, which basically said that we will be extinct within two decades if shit doesn’t change. "OUR LIFESTYLE IS NON-NEGOTIABLE!"  Grrrrrrr.  I’d rather negotiate than die of starvation and/or dehydration, quite honestly.

3.  Continuing the fake folksy man-of-the-people crap about not raising taxes, while the entire infrastructure of the country continues to deteriorate because…well, because there’s no money in the tax coffers to pay for repairs to roads, bridges, railroad tracks, water and sewage pipes, schools, libraries, etc.

Obama’s limited experience and occasional vagueness sometimes makes me nervous, too, but honestly, every politician makes me nervous at some point.  I really do think he wants to make some fundamental changes and our country desperately needs changing right now. Some will work, some won’t, no doubt, but I’m willing to give it a shot.  He can’t possibly make things worse than they already are.  McCain, in his devotion to "staying the course," can and likely would make things worse than they already are. Those are my reasons. 

Fasinating

Trooly.

I may have overstated the HUMAN extinction thing slightly.  It was a brief blip on the news when I saw mention of it, quickly followed up by a much longer, lighthearted story about a turkey wandering into a store or something.  However, the basic message is that extinctions and sea level rises are going to happen within the next few decades, may be irreversible once they start occurring in full-force, and ultimately spell our doom.  Yay!  Now back to that turkey story….

Anyway, here’s a link to the info that I was talking about:

http://www.algore.org/blog/medullan_marauder/nasa_warming_scientist_last_chance

And another interesting link:

http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/investigation-reveals-0007.html

—your radio friend, Bat Guano

Apparently, while our American boys were fighting and DYING in the jungles of Vietnam, the “distinguished” senator from Arizona was kicking his feet up at a posh hotel! I can picture him now, sipping good brandy from a snifter (French Indochina … believe me, they had it!) and popping rich caramels into his deceitful mouth. Yes, he’s drunk. See him slosh a little brandy on his fluffy white hotel robe. See the stain on the embroidered logo: Hanoi Hilton.

I’m only going by what I’ve heard, but if that many people are saying it, there’s got to be some truth to it.

Do NOT vote for this towel-stealing, room service-ordering, maid-stiffing huckster!

Wasn’t Bill Clinton a draft dodger too?

Clinton was no draft dodger, as he was legally enrolled at Oxford University at the time of the draft, and so earned a proper deferment. He was pursuing higher education, experiencing other cultures and gaining a deeper understanding of the world as a whole…WITHOUT an M16. All this helped him go on to become one of the best presidents in recent history. (Look at his score card!) At least was doing something with himself. Not just hiding out in a luxury suite at this 5-star Hilton, like McCain’t! It’s frankly absurd to compare the two. Clinton is also much better at talking to people (especially women). That’s a skill you don’t get hanging out by the pool reading People all day.

Thank you for reading.

Wasnt sure about the whole Clinton draft dodger thing.

Its Mrs. Stephens, or Samantha, or Sam if you like.   My cousin Serena is single but but she is extremely unpredictable.

Rumor has it she may be making an apperance here.

quote: "and popping rich caramels into his deceitful mouth."

I read this as "popping rich camels"!

From here, something I’ve noticed about John McCain.

Let’s be frank. On the campaign trail this cycle, McCain frequently forgets key elements of policies, gets countries’ names wrong, forgets things he’s said only hours or days before and is frequently just confused. Any single example is inevitable for someone talking so constantly day in and day out. But the profusion of examples shows a pattern. Some of this is probably a matter of general unseriousness or lack of interest in policy areas like the economy that he doesn’t care much about. But for any other politician who didn’t have the benefit of years of friendship or acquaintance with many of the reporters covering him, this would be a major topic of debate in the campaign. It’s whispered about among reporters. And it’s evidenced in his campaign’s increasing effort to keep him away from the freewheeling conversations with reporters that defined his 2000 candidacy. But it’s verboten as a topic of public discussion.

The other point that again goes almost totally undiscussed is McCain’s two reinventions of himself over the last decade. From a mainline conservative Republican to progressive reform candidate to Bush Republican. The reporters who have been covering him for the last decade know that there is virtually no public policy issue of note which McCain hasn’t made a 180 degree change of position on in the last half dozen years. An ideological shift of that magnitude is far from unprecedented. And such turnabouts or transformations can be a product of searching insights into the changing terrain of American governance. But two such shifts in the course of a decade strongly suggest either instability or opportunism.

Hey, one only needs to look at that incredibly stupid McCain campaign ad that equates Obama with Britney and Paris! What the hell? I thought the ad that blamed gas prices on Obama was bad enough, but it’s astounding, the low to which the McCain campaign has sunk.

What’s even more bizarre is that McCain has certainly made more TV show apperances on shows like "SNL" and "Daily Show" - shows that cater to the celebrity-worshipping demographic to which, McCain implies, Obama’s supporters belong - than Obama himself. Has Obama done a Top Ten list with Letterman?

McCain’s out of touch, at any rate, using Britney (lest we forget, pro-Bush in her super-brief Fahrenheit 9/11 appearance) and Paris for comparison. Doesn’t he know we’ve moved on to Lindsay Lohan and naked Harry Potter?

Actually, yes, Obama has done a Top Ten with Letterman.

I kinda like that add.

to the card-carrying liberal, it may look stupid. but, oddly, his recent ads are working. there is a group of people who are in fact worried about Obama’s "celebrity". Also, with all media, keep in mind that McCain himself had virtually nothing to do with making that ad; his money went into it, and he approved it, but it was created entirely by pros.

Grandpa don’t know what the heck the kids are doing at that computer all night in the basement.

The deal is, the celebrity ads are aimed at a group of people who don’t care about the issues, they only care about vague, indefinable (therefore very definable, shapeable) things like "character" and such. Combine that with the Rove tactic of hitting the opponent’s strengths (like what they did to Kerry’s war service and medals). "Oh, Obama’s so popular! So many people really like him and flock to his rallies!" Add the sound of cheering crowds chanting his name.

I’m surprised they used blond celebrities. Why not Hitler? Didn’t Hitler have huge rallies like that, with fanatical followers?

Or, better yet, just call him the Antichrist.

Anyway, my point is, these ads are aimed at the simple-minded, the Republican base and the media talking heads. That’s just redundant — I should just say, "the simple-minded."

I realize that I’d lost the outrage at this kind of thing, and had come to expect it.

Here’s why all this matters. A critical part of what’s gone wrong these past few years has been the tendency of a war president to bully opponents, distort their meaning, use base emotional appeals when we need far more rational discussion about how to counter a very complex, terrifying Islamist threat. The kind of campaigns Rove ran in 2002, 2004 and 2006 made all this far harder. It reduced important debates about priorities in the war, detention and interrogation policies, the wisdom of long-term enmeshment in the Middle East, the difficulties of securing loose nukes, the excruciatingly difficult calls on which allies to trust and how - into dumb-ass contests about who is the biggest bad-ass, who is a treasonous wimp and which opponent most belongs in a French hair salon.

The American public wants to move on from this. That’s why Obama emerged; and that’s why McCain emerged. Both had actually bucked some of the extremes in their own parties. And the central question in this election, to my mind, is: who will repudiate the Rove-Cheney inheritance most powerfully. If McCain emerges in this campaign as a man who is prepared to be coopted and programmed by the worst aspects of the Rove-Cheney era, then why should anyone believe he will be different from Bush in critical respects once he gets elected?

The campaigns are telling us something. So far in the general, on tactics alone, McCain is running for Bush’s third term.

So my understanding is that Mickey has a McCain sticker on his car.  It’s a free country and all, but hey Samantha could you explain this one a little bit? 

So why is McCain bumpersticker-worthy?

Yes its true I have a McCain bumper sticker on my car.  Part of it is because I have always been a non conformist, and have never "fat in with the group".  Yall have Obama bumper stickers on your cars, so I though "I’ll get a McCain bumper sticker on my car".  Also between him and Obama I think McCain is better for the country.   I wont go into details because we see differently on this.  I know most folks here are behind Obama and thats ok with me.

If you think a candidate is worthy of a bumper sticker, you will be asked to explain.

I got the Obama bumper sticker, yard sign, and t-shirt. I knew what I was getting into. People might question me about this public display. I am ready.

Lets just say I think McCain is the right man for the job.

Yes its true I have a McCain bumper sticker on my car.  Part of it is because I have always been a non conformist

This so-called democracy forces voters to choose between two candidates. You are choosing one of those two candidates. How are you a non-conformist?

Why?

Perhaps I shouldn’t have used the word “stupid” - “hypocritical” would be a more appropriate term. Voters who are undecided, who may not be “card-carrying liberals”, might note that McCain himself has arrived at a high level of media celebrity over the course of recent years, which he has encouraged - so, whether or not people are of the belief that Obama is the real-life embodiment of Robert Redford’s “Candidate”, that can also be said of McCain himself. Why draw attention to an attribute you share with a rival? Couldn’t that tactic could backfire? That is stupidity, though I’m totally in agreement that the ads are working on a certain segment of viewers, as Criswell has noted with an explanation far more pointed than one I could offer.

No shit. I don’t know what I wrote that suggested I thought he came up with the ad. Of course he didn’t come up with that ad, just like he didn’t come up with the ad that replays the whole “cult of personality” angle of the “Britney/Paris” ad, this time showing Obamania as represented by a bunch of posters, magazine covers, etc., (perhaps real?), one declaring “La Revolucion Obama” over a photo of Obama, printed in black and laid against a background of red, that’s obviously a rip of the Che Guevara posters that have been re-pro’d for 40 years. Here we are, closer to Criswell’s vision of Obama/antichrist comparisons. Obama’s a commie! Cold War enthusiasts, line up to vote for McCain if you don’t want that pinko bastard in the White House. Work of pros for sure, and McCain knows it and supports it. So much for centrism.

Umm, Mickey, there are some groups you are fitting in with here.   Racists.  Xenophobes.  Know-nothings. The Christian Coalition.  Gay bashers. The oil industry lobby.  McCain voted against MLK’s birthday for crying out loud.  The guy is just a sick fuck.  It’s OK to call your wife a cunt?  It’s OK to offer your wife up at a biker rally?   Jesus, dude, read a fucking book or a blog or something.  Get a clue. We’re not talking about Coke vs. Pepsi (putting aside the thoughts of some of the more politically abstract on this forum).    I think you do need to get into some details here because I’m really struggling…..

Mickey, you know the real way to get everybody here mad and to go against the grain and be totally non-conformist is to vote for Nader.  I’ll give you the Nadir, but fuck, McCain, seriously?  Is it just the Jesus thing?  If so, I hear from the real world that Obama is an Xtian too.  I don’t really care, it’s just weird, seeing as how you and I are poor and all.

Heck Mickey I would even allow Ron Paul from a ‘non-conformist’ angle or maybe even Bob Barr but McCain? Come on….

But Herb, if he picks a candidate you "allow" then that’s conforming. So yeah, I say go for it Mickey! Piss off all these Obama drones!

Obama ‘drones’?  That shit might fly in the rarefied ultra-liberal urban environments some inhabit but in the right wing hellhole I inhabit called Van Buren County Obama is about the best hope we’ve got right now.  

Mickey’s just voting McCain because McCain was alive to watch "Bewitched" in prime time. That’s it, isn’t it?

I WILL FOLLOW OBAMA I WILL DO WHAT OBAMA WANT ME TO DO I WILL WORSHIP OBAMA AS MY MESSIAH I WILL THINK WHAT OBAMA WANT ME TO THINK

Obama ‘drones’?  That shit might fly in the rarefied ultra-liberal urban environments some inhabit but in the right wing hellhole I inhabit called Van Buren County Obama is about the best hope we’ve got right now.

You sound like a Christisn waiting for his messiah to come save his ass. But y’know what? He ain’t coming! 

… we believe that Obama will save us from all! Ours is a child-like faith in heroes and hope.

The thing is, if any one here came out for Nader, Paul or whatever freakish nihilist fraction of the Communist Party Quantum belongs to, we’d argue and say they’re wrong and implore you to join us Obamadronebots.

But here we have the disturbing case of someone siding with the Republican Party. The folks who lied us into a war that killed hundreds of thousands and cost us bazillions. Who ruined the economy with bullshit "deregulation" designed to help those at the top. Who took from the poor, gave to the rich. Who helped oil companies get record profits. Who wish to shrink government so it’s small enough to be drowned in a bathtub, yet who demand an almost authoritarian-like loyalty to a chief executive.

You see, that’s my problem with this. Obama isn’t going to be the savior, but he’s not going to keep us headed in a totally fucked-up direction.

Yeah that’s about how simplistic I am. 

The thing is, if any one here came out for Nader, Paul or whatever freakish nihilist fraction of the Communist Party Quantum belongs to, we’d argue and say they’re wrong and implore you to join us Obamadronebots.

Communist Party? Are you still living in the ’30s or something?

You heard me, pinko.

agrarian socialist ;)

FUNYUNS IS VOTING FOR CHUY THU THU!  SHE IS THE PREDDIEST!!!!!!!

http://www.guidespot.com/guides/bNEWZlVObdn4yB9pa-2H7s

it tickles when she kiss you with her many-ponged tax breakse!

Me and Quantum are on the same side on an issue and are not arguing.   Man that is something.

Ok Herb, I have my reasons for supporting McCain.   I know most people here support Obama and thats ok with me.   We are not on the same side as this, but remember we are also friends.  For the sake of our friendships lets just agree to disagree.

No Mickey I think you need to tell us why……

And this is why I love you. 

"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity."

Just more food for political thought. Here’s a nice lil’ essay by George Orwell. Even if you’ve read it already, it’s worth re-reading.

Herb you talking about that TV show The Jeffersons?  I didnt know you are a fan.

Herb we’re friends, lets agree to disagree.  You support Obama and you know what I think thats groovy. 

Hey instead of this political talk lets talk about something I know you and I can agree on.

The Sinatras

You looking forward to seeing them play next month????

You hit it on the head darling

No Mickey I want you to explain to me in at least 100 words why you support the policies of the Republican Party.