Razor the Blogger vs. Joe the Plumber

A quick heads up - in the next few days, I'm going to be posting a piece on why I'm voting for Barack Obama. Not why I'm voting against John McCain, not why I'm voting Democratic, why I'm specifically voting for Barack Obama, so be on the lookout for that, I should have it posted by Sunday.

Now I'd like to talk about the biggest thing pissing me off today... Joe the Plumber, or as he should be known: Sam Wurzelbacher, the unlicensed plumber that is nothing but John McCain's desperate attempt to show he has a connection with the everyman! Yeah, you know all those everyday Joe Sixpacks out there that have a PUBLICIST! Are you fucking kidding me?! This douchebag has hired representation and is working on a book deal and a record deal to produce a country music album with Aaron Tippin.

I tried to let the Joe the Plumber thing go, it was painfully embarrassing to watch, but whatever, it's the kind of thing politicians do - put a face to an idea. But now this guy is out there with all this media, saying that an Obama presidency would be the "death of Israel," and even talking about running for congress... I can't take it anymore. So here's what I'm going to do, I'm publicly challenging Joe the Plumber to a debate. We're both Ohioans, we both feverishly support our candidates and we're both about as qualified to be Vice President as Sarah Palin.

If you're one of the seven or eight people that read this blog, tell your friends to tell their friends about this challenge. Hopefully, it'll get back to Joe (you can even tell him that I called him a douchebag) and he'll agree to it. I'll go anywhere - Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, even Defiance, OH... Joe can name the place, he can name the venue, he can even pack the crowd full of Republicans, just make sure there's a camera there to tape it and a moderator from that wacky liberal media. I guaran-damn-tee that I know more about the American political system than JTP and I want to expose this guy as nothing but empty overalls, plucked from obscurity by the McCain campaign and presented to me as what "Real America" supposedly is.

Joe Wurzelbacher is not an accurate representation of the average American, he's a puppet that is milking his fifteen minutes of fame for all its worth. He's a fraud, a shill, and I'm pretty sure utterly clueless as to what he's talking about. I'm so sick of the political process being turned into a pageant, we're talking about the direction of the free world, not what makes a cute story to make up for your sagging poll numbers and your complete absence of an agenda for getting the country back on track. Joe the Plumber is a joke, and I would love the opportunity to prove it. So how bout it? Wouldn't you like to see two "average" Americans from a crucial swing state debate the issues just days before the election? Well, I don't have a pending record contract, so I don't know if I'm as average as Joe, but hopefully he can make time in his busy schedule for the little people.

C'mon, if we're going to spend the last five days of the election turning it into a circus, let's get serious about it!

Pump and Pay

I know it's instinctual to be happy about the recent drops in gas prices, a few people told me that they paid under $2 a gallon today! Awesome, right? Well... no, not really. I know what you're thinking, "Oh c'mon, I can't even enjoy my $1.99 gas?! Why does this guy hate everything?" Hey, I'm happy about paying less to fill up too, but we can't allow ourselves to become comfortable again. Americans got a huge wake up call in 2008 when we started paying $4 a gallon, it was a taste of what it's like to live anywhere else in the world. If we get complacent because we're paying less for gas now, it's just going to come back and bite us in the ass in a couple years.

After 9/11, alternative energy should have been our number one priority, but surprise surprise, the ex-oilman president did nothing. It was irresponsible, has made our country less safe and has set us back a decade in breaking free of our dependence on foreign oil. When you hear Governor Avon Lady chanting "drill, baby, drill," the image that should pop in your mind is a drug addict needing his next fix. Oil is Republican crack, "c'mon man, just one more offshore oil rig... I'll suck your dick!" and just like when a crackhead offers, you need to turn it down from a Republican... God knows where that mouth has been. And just like drugs, it's great at first, but then you hit rock bottom; these low prices aren't going to last forever and neither will the oil. I read an article today about the possibility of the SUV craze returning due to lower oil prices, so let me say this: if you're thinking about buying a Hummer right now, you're a fucking tool. Well, you're a tool if you ever wanted to buy a Hummer, but you get my point.

There is no excuse to not start investing in alternative fuels and it should be a top priority for the sake of the environment, our economy and our national security. Offshore drilling won't provide results for twenty years, it's time to let it go and move forward. It's fantastic that my wallet is heavier right now, but if we don't start acting, this mess is just going to blow up in our faces again and we'll be right back where we were, and then how much will it take for Americans to be outraged enough to demand change? $5 a gallon? $10 a gallon? This year was our wake up call, we can't afford to hit snooze.

Immoral Majority

Well it's a new day, so that means a new McCain attack strategy. Let's see, so far we've had: celebrity, inexperienced, community organizer, elitist, doesn't support the troops, terrorist, socialist, and not a part of "Real America" - all hilarious attacks and all well-documented in John McCain's laundry list of hypocrisy, so what's left? With ten days to go, the McCain campaign is now running on "the Democrats will have control of the House, Senate and the presidency... you don't want a liberal majority do you?!"

FUCK YES I DO!

Hell, I've only been waiting 25 years for a liberal majority so we can finally toss out your crusty old asses. The Conservatives have been trying to keep this country in the 1950s since the 1950s, and personally, I'm ready to act like we live in the 21st century. I don't want just a majority, I don't want a super majority, I don't want an ultra majority, I want an UBER MAJORITY! Oh yeah, "uber," that's European... that's how much of a dirty liberal I am.

I started this blog as a way to vent my rage about the Neocon Republican Party, let me be perfectly honest - I want them all gone. Seriously, I want every Neocon out of office on the federal, state and local level; every moral-crusading asshole, everyone of these criminals that wants to eliminate the separation of church and state, all of these bloodthirsty warmongers, I want them all to be unemployed so they can really see what it's like to be a REAL American. Some true Republicans can stay, I can live with guys like Chuck Hagel, Ron Paul and John McCain from eight years ago, but they need to come up with something new to call themselves, the word "Republican" just makes me cry. Or they could just join the Libertarian Party, if we have to have a two party system, I'm perfectly comfortable with Libertarians and Democrats because we might actually get some fucking work done!

Okay, sorry about the rant... I'm a little fired up today. Honestly, I'm a concerned about this possible Democratic majority because the minute anything goes wrong, the Republicans will swoop in like the vultures they are and say, "See?! Told ya!!!" and that'll be that. Also, despite what you've heard, I don't really like the Democratic Party. Why? Democrats aren't really that liberal, no matter how many times conservatives try to say it, it's just not true. They're all pretty much in the center, a lot of them even in the center right, the problem is the Neocons have taken the Republican party so far to the right, that anything looks liberal by comparison. Here, I'll illustrate:

Liberals--------------------------------------------Democats------Republicans-------------Neocons-

We're at an extremely important moment in our country's history, serious changes need to be made and that's not going to happen with partisan gridlock, which is pretty much what the government has been like since I've been alive. The people are fed up with their government - I certainly am - and are demanding sweeping changes, that's not going to happen as long as the Republican Party exists. It's not that Democrats are going to fix it, they're not, but the Neocons are leeches that have bled this country dry and they must be stopped. Once we've removed this parasite, we can begin working on the Democrats and either fix that party or do away with it as well and start fresh.

I sincerely hope that one day we can get rid of the two-party system, it's completely outdated and unneccessary in this modern culture we live in. Sure, it worked when our quickest way of delivering information was the Pony Express, but now we can access anything in seconds, so we don't really need to align ourselves with a party that kinda-sorta represents our worldview. Make no mistake, I don't think all people that identify themselves as Republican are bad people, if you personally believe in a conservative lifestyle, that's your choice and I respect it. The problem lies in Republican leaders who have no agenda and are merely interested in power and money, that's what's killing America. Republican Party, Democratic Party, they can both go for all I care, but we're not going to see the kind of change we need as long as we let these power-hungry Neocons keep their hand wrapped around America's throat.

I've bashed George W. Bush a lot over the last eight years, but oddly enough, I have to thank him. Yes, by him being the worst president in American history, he's opened a window of opportunity for outraged Americans to get in that voting booth on November 4 (or before that - vote early!) and possibly destroy the ultra-corrupt Neoconservative Republican Party once and for all. This isn't hyperbole, I'm not joking, and I'm going to say this loud and clear - in order for America to survive, the Republican Party has to die.

Designing Palin

I don't hide my hatred for the Republican Party, there's certainly no questioning that, but I don't hate them just because it's fun. I honestly believe that the Republican Party is a malignant tumor that is slowly and painfully killing the United States of America. Don't get me wrong, I'm not overly fond of the Democratic Party either, but I feel like there is some good left there and they haven't been destroyed from within like the Neocons did to Republicans.

The biggest problem with the Neocon Republican Party is that it's no longer about issues, but rather about keeping the political structure of the nation in a state of permanent campaigning. The Republicans can't govern, they don't want to govern, they run on a platform that says government doesn't work (which as I've joked before, it doesn't work when they're in charge), but they do know how to campaign. Until Barack Obama put together the most impressive ground game in campaign history, Democrats almost always were out-campaigned by Republicans. But when you have no agenda other than to retain power and control people, it's no wonder why the country has gone to shit after eight years of George Bush, seven of those with Republican control of the House and Senate.

With their disgusting claws being pryed off the levers of power, Republicans are growing desperate and have resorted to these sleazy attacks and smears. It's not surprising, I'm just stating the fact in order to get to my point - as these attacks fail in the age of YouTube, the Republicans become more and more transparent and they're now exposed as the no good hypocrites that they are.

This is the party that attacked John Kerry as an elitist, mocked John Edwards' $400 haircut and called Barack Obama an empty celebrity. Yeah, the Republicans love to paint themselves as Joe Sixpack, Hockey Moms, just your average blue collar guy that loves 'Merica and wants to take out 'dem 'terrists! Well, if the Republicans are just like every other average guy out there, then why are they spending $150,000 on Sarah Palin's wardrobe? Let's keep in mind, the average American family of four takes in less than $50,000 per year, and the RNC is spending triple that on the clothes that Palin has worn in her short two months on the campaign.

Remember, this is the supposed "reformer" that saved the people of Alaska all this money - she didn't need the fancy jet, the private chef, or a limo ride to work, she was just your average "Real American" that wanted to shake up Washington! If you're one of those average Americans reading this, let me ask you, when's the last time you spent $2,500 on a Valentino jacket? Have you recently spent $90 on a hat for your infant son? When's the last time you got to go on a $75,000 shopping spree at Neiman Marcus... was that before you lost your 401k or after you got laid off?

Look, I don't care what the Republican National Committee does with its money; if Sarah Palin wants to go out and pretend she's got a cameo in the next Sex and the City movie, that's fine. But don't act like you're speaking to me or the rest of Real America when you've spent more money in one day than the average Joe makes in a year. This stuff is funny to an extent, but you have to remember these are the people running for office and winning based on the myth that they connect to middle America more than those damn dirty liberals do. Maybe if they took off the Dolce & Gabbana and stepped outside one of their eight houses, they could have a claim to understanding the problems facing the average American.

Now I know what you're thinking, "Barack Obama's rich too!" Yes he is, but he's not out there calling himself Joe Sixpack. Obama's not running around talking about what parts of the country are "Real," he's just actually bothered to learn something. Oh I know, that "L" word is scary to a Neocon, but while their nominees are bashing the "elitist Democrats," no one is bothering to mention that they're nothing but emprty suits spewing empty gestures for cheap applause. When you're running for office and you have no vision for the future and all you're presenting is marketing for this character that doesn't actually exist, you're hurting America. This isn't a popularity contest, it's not who you want to have a beer with, it's who is the most knowledgeable of the problems facing the country and who is best equipped to offer a solution to it.

She may have spent $150,000... but the Empress has no clothes.

Real America

Aside from calling Barack Obama a socialist, there has been another disturbing talking point coming out of the McCain campaign this week, this notion that there are parts of the country that are "Real America," I suppose implying that other parts are "Fake America." I noted Sarah Palin and Michele Bachman's Neo-McCarthyism over the weekend, but it didn't stop with these two; North Carolina congressman Robin Hayes threw out this gem that was reported in the New York Observer:

First, Representative Patrick McHenry cheered what he called the “biggest crowd John McCain has gotten in North Carolina” and emphasized that this was a critical election with a stark choice between the candidates.

“It’s like black and white,” someone in the crowd at the Cabarrus Arena & Events Center yelled out, laughing. McHenry let the remark pass and finished his speech. He yielded the microphone to Representative Robin Hayes, who prefaced his comments by saying it was important to “make sure we don’t say something stupid, make sure we don’t say something we don’t mean.” Republicans, he reminded the crowd, were kind people. Plus, he added, the liberal media had shown itself eager to distort such remarks. With the crowd duly chastened and put on best behavior, he accused Obama of “inciting class warfare” and said that “liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God.”

Wow... "hey let's not saying anything stupid, but you know those fucking liberals hate real Americans and people that believe in God." Yeah, no class warfare there at all.

If this is going to be the main point that the Republicans drive home in the last two weeks of the election, I have a much better idea for them. John McCain, your poll numbers are slipping even further, your support is waning, your message isn't resonating, maybe it's just time to give up on some of America, instead of trying to become president of the whole country, John, you could just be president of Real America!

Think about it, your supporters don't want to live in a country with people like me, it's just a recipe for disaster. I honestly have no problem giving you Real America, you're all clearly better people than I could ever be, so I should have to stay behind here in Fake America. Here's my plan for your new country:

REAL AMERICA
President - John Sidney McCain
Vice President - Sarah Louise Heath Palin
Speaker of the House - Joe the Plumber
Chief Justice - The Honorable Toby Keith
Motto - Jesus is American!
National Anthem - "God Bless the USA" - Lee Greenwood
Capital - Wasilla, Alaska
Largest City - Houston, Texas
Official Language - American (Color isn't spelled "colour" you silly Europeans!)
Currency - $1 bill - Ronald Reagan, $5 bill - A Fetus, $10 bill - An Oil Rig, $20 bill - Dale Earnhardt, $100 bill - Jesus!
States - Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Montana, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, Nevada (except Las Vegas), Northern Wisconsin and "Real Virginia"

Isn't that awesome, John? You get all of Real America to yourself! As Governor Palin said, this is where you find "goodness and courage," and it's the "hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation." You don't really want to be president of places like New York, California, and New England, do you? Of course not, and neither do your supporters, they deserve something better than that since they are the Real Americans after all.

Us here in Fake America will just have to get by on things like the entire entertainment industry, the media, Ivy League schools, and advanced science. Yeah, don't want to stain your reputation with those God-hating scientists and their medicine, but you guys have the power of prayer, so I'm sure you don't need anybody for cancer treatment, heart disease or anything else that may afflict us atheist, America-hating liberals.

Well, good luck to you Real Americans, although I'm sure you won't need it since we all know Jesus is a Republican. He did preach the virtues of wealth, greed, ignorance and bigotry, so having him on your side must be a huge bonus. Oh, I almost forgot, I made a flag for your new country, hope you like it!

The Top 10 Hypocrisies From the John McCain Campaign

If you asked me to name what it is about the Republican Party that I hate the most, it would undoubtedly be their shameless hypocrisy. So with only two weeks left in the campaign, I figured it would be nice to recap some of the most infuriating double-standards in the 2008 presidential election. Of course, there are only two weeks left, so that gives the Republicans plenty of time to add another dozen or so to this list.

10. "Robocalls are despicable... now listen to my Robocall about Barack Obama!"
In the 2000 Republican primary, John McCain's reputation was attacked from all angles by the Bush campaign - they used Robocalls to put the idea into voters minds that John McCain may have fathered an illegitimate black child. In reality, it was his adopted Bangladeshi daughter, but it worked and McCain lost the bid for president to Bush, and we all know how that worked out. Fast-forward eight years and McCain is using the exact same company that smeared him to smear Obama as someone who "works with" terrorists.

9. "Candidates children are off limits... but have I mentioned how ugly Chelsea Clinton is?"
After some pretty vicious rumors about Sarah Palin's daughter began circulating, the Palin family came out and announced that their 17 year old daughter was pregnant out of wedlock. Palin praised her daughter's "choice" to keep the baby - a "choice" that a McCain administration very well could take away (two for one hypocrisy!) - and then said that families should be off-limits. Of course, I'd like to know where they were in the 90s when John McCain joked "you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." Stay classy, Johnny!

8. "Barack Obama is a celebrity... now who wants to watch me in Wedding Crashers?"
Soon after Obama locked up the Democratic nomination, John McCain launched a series of ads equating the Illinois Senator with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears as an empty, Hollywood elite. But wait a minute, which one of these candidates has hosted Saturday Night Live? Had a cameo in Wedding Crashers? Appeared on 24? That would be John McCain. McCain has also appeared on numerous other entertainment shows: 11 appearances on Jay Leno, 8 with Letterman, 3 with Conan O'Brien, 12 visits to The Daily Show, 3 episodes of The View, 6 episodes of Entertainment Tonight, an appearance on Last Comic Standing , and even an appearance on WWE Monday Night RAW. John McCain was a celebrity's politician long before anyone had even heard the name Barack Obama.

7. "How dare you use the phrase 'lipstick on a pig?!' That is a clear insult to my running-mate... but please ignore the fact that I used the same phrase when discussing Hillary Clinton."
Ah, do you remember the good ol' days? You know, like back in August when the only thing we had to worry about was "Lipstickgate?" Yeah, kinda sucks that the economy imploded and everyone conveniently forgot about this little piece of crazy from John McCain. McCain exploded when Obama used the phrase to describe McCain's policies, but nobody had the time to ask the Republican nominee what he meant when he used the exact same phrase to describe Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan.

6. "The attacks on my running-mate have been nothing short of sexism... now who wants to hear a joke about rape?"
John McCain has an uncomfortable history joking about rape, we discussed his association with Clayton Williams in the very first entry here at American Razor, a man who once said "as long as [rape] is inevitable, just relax and enjoy it." McCain's also made jokes about a woman enjoying being raped by a Gorilla and he called his wife a cunt, so I don't know if he's really the foremost authority on sexism. Look, I'm not one to be offended by someone's tasteless jokes, but if you get to joke about rape, then I get to call Sarah Palin "Governor Avon Lady."

5. "Barack Obama is way too sensitive about criticism... but any attack on me is 'beyond the pale.'"
While John McCain supporters are busy shouting "kill him," "off with his head," "terrorist," "traitor," "treason," "socialist," and "Arab" at rallies, John McCain himself is running around with his phony outrage about anyone who calls him out on creating this environment. After Governor Avon Lady stirred the pot and essentially called Obama an America-hating socialist terrorist at her rallies, Civil Rights legend John Lewis attacked the Republican ticket for creating such a hostile environment. He said while they are not directly engaging in any sort of violence, they are encouraging their supporters to become more and more rabid towards the first black presidential nominee; much like the atmosphere that surrounded segregationist George Wallace during the Civil Rights Movement. It's a completely accurate statement to make, but John McCain came unglued over it and instead of condemning what some lunatics in his crowd had been saying about Obama, he tried the "I'm rubber, you're glue" defense and tried to put all the blame on his opponent. Now who's touchy?

4. "Negative campaigning shows you have no vision for the future... now let's watch my slew of negative ads against Obama."
As mentioned earlier, McCain was the victim of a hideously negative campaign in 2000 and he said "sooner or later people are going to figure out that if all you run is negative attack ads you don't have much a vision for the future or you're not ready to articulate it." Now before he rolled out the Robocalls, McCain had already been running the sleaziest campaign in modern history. Whether it's a distortion, half-truth, smear, or flat-out lie, McCain's campaign has thrown it at Barack Obama. After the 2000 primary and after he said this year that voters were tired of negative campaigning, McCain surrounded himself with the same people that smeared him eight years ago and took his campaign down the low road.

3. "You're a socialist... but my plan for the government to spend $300 billion to buy up every bad mortgage in the country is called being a Maverick!"
As I noted yesterday, the latest tactic of the campaign is to revert back to McCarthyism, one of our country's most embarrassing chapters and paint Obama as a socialist. It's working with the Republican base, one woman even began shouting "SOCIALIST" at Obama at a restaurant over the weekend and refused to listen to him or shake her hand when he attempted to better explain his positions. Of course, there's only one candidate in this campaign pledging to use tax dollars to buy up every bad mortgage in the country and it's the crazy Commie John McCain. We've already nationalized the banks, but now John McCain wants to nationalize your property and he has the audacity to call Obama socialist.

2. "You pal around with terrorists... but my relationship with G. Gordon Liddy doesn't count."
If you missed it, you can read this entry about McCain's relationship with G. Gordon Liddy, a man that McCain says he is "proud of." What part is he proud of? Liddy's involvement in the Watergate scandal? His plot to murder two men? His plot to bomb buildings? Or him telling people to shoot ATF agents in the face? Liddy served his time in jail and now works as a radio host, but his connections to John McCain are just as solid (if not more) as Obama's ties to William Ayers. Ayers and Liddy are both rehabilitated domestic terrorists, but only one of them served time in prison (Liddy), yet the media only reports on Obama and Ayers? A stunning and sickening hypocrisy from the McCain campaign and the lazy media.

1. "Barack Obama has no experience... now I'd like to introduce you to my running-mate, Sarah Palin!"
I could probably do a top ten list solely on the hypocrisy of selecting Sarah Palin as a Vice Presidential nominee, but she undoubtedly belongs at the top of this list. The claim that Barack Obama is inexperienced is a valid argument, I won't debate that. It would have been McCain's best line of attack in this campaign had he not selected Governor Avon Lady as his running-mate. You mean to tell me that I shouldn't vote for Obama because he's inexperienced while the Republicans are offering up a 72 year old, four time cancer survivor as their nominee with a potential Vice President who's been governor of a state with a smaller population than Albuquerque, New Mexico and before that, Mayor of a city with a population smaller than the attendance of a high school football game? We've also gotten to know Sarah Palin over the last few weeks and she is the biggest embarrassment in the political history of this nation. Selecting her as a running-mate is a slap in the face to every American and it shows that McCain's judgment is a far greater liability than Barack Obama's lack of experience.

Red (State) Scare

The Republican Party is in utter disarray - the wheels are flying off, people are abandoning ship, they are in a nosedive, name any other metaphor for a vehicle crashing, it's happening to the Republicans. Now, I certainly don't want to start clicking my heels together just yet since this is a close race and there's still two weeks to go, but there's no doubt that even if McCain pulls it off and wins, it'll be like becoming the new lead singer for Journey. Sure, Journey was an awesome band, but there's no Steve Perry!

A lot of issues came to a boil this weekend and if you're unlike me and you have a life, you probably missed out on a lot. On Friday, Sarah Palin mentioned how much she loves visiting "the pro-America parts of the country," pretty much abandoning any subtlety that the Republicans had left and just flat-out said they truly think that only certain states, cities or towns are American. Basically saying that if you live in New York, Chicago, LA, or any place where there's not necessarily a huge concentration of white Christians, you hate America.

Minnesota Congresswoman (and lunatic) Michele Bachmann did an interview on Friday where she called for an investigation of the United States congress to see which members were anti-American. I did a piece on Neo-McCarthyism a few months back, I'd like to thank Michele Bachmann for proving my point. If you needed anymore evidence that the Neocons are desperately trying to take this country back to the 1950s, just turn on one of your 24 cable news outlets, the big word of the day is "socialist," oh no, the Reds are coming!

Much like McCarthyism, you don't need to provide any actual facts or evidence to prove that your opponent is a dirty Commie, just repeat it over and over and eventually someone will believe you. Barack Obama is this America-hating socialist liberal that's looking to redistribute wealth! Yeah, I'm sure that's why the richest man on the planet, Warren Buffet, has endorsed him for president, he's just going to let his $65 billion get spread around! Of course, all Obama is going to do is cut taxes on 95% of the country and then raise taxes on the upper 5% to what they were when Bill Clinton was president. But you can understand why Republicans would be upset about that, despite the eight years of peace, the roaring economy and the low unemployment rates, people were getting blowjobs! Clearly, we can't let our children be reminded of such a dark time in our nation's past. Oh Republicans, you're so cute sometimes.

All this nonsense came to a screeching halt today when a true American hero endorsed Barack Obama - General Colin Powell. The Republican General Colin Powell... the former Secretary of State for the Bush Administration Colin Powell... one of the architects of the Iraq War Colin Powell. How's that for a kick in the balls, Republican Party? Powell's endorsement is a concise rejection of this sleazy, irresponsible and shameless campaign that John McCain has run these last few months. A clear rejection of these ideas put forth by Michele Bachmann that part of our congress hates America; a clear rejection of the hate being spewed and encouraged at McCain rallies where people call for the assassination of a political candidate; and it is certainly a clear rejection of the intelligence-insulting choice of Sarah Palin as a nominee for Vice President.

Colin Powell is a good man that got a raw deal from the Bush Administration after the occupation of Iraq blew up in their face. After it all began to fall apart, he was one of the first people to have the courage to speak out and shortly thereafter, quietly "resigned" as Secretary of State in 2005. Powell isn't afraid to tell it like it is and that goes directly against the ideals of Neocon Republicans, so it's no surprise both sides went their separate ways. Here we are now in the middle of this divisive election and a lifelong Republican, one of our most respected generals, has come out to endorse the Democratic nominee for president because of the horrible campaign that his party is running. He knows McCain will run the country exactly like Bush (into the ground), he knows we won't get away from this culture war under a McCain presidency and he knows it will truly be more of the same, so he's speaking out... very Maverick of him, don't you think?

Of course the right-wing media is already trying to brush this off as a racial thing (how many other black Democrats has Colin Powell directly endorsed? Oh yeah, none), but don't let their racism get to you. The Neocons have very little tricks left up their sleeve, so they're going to throw everything they can at Obama - race, terrorism, socialism, anti-Americanism, elitism, etc. - but just remember, while they're slinging mud, Colin Powell was the Republican that truly put country first.

I'm also troubled by – not what Senator McCain says – but what members of the Party say, and it is permitted to be said: such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is he is not a Muslim. He's a Christian; has always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, "What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?" The answer's "No, that's not America." Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be President? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own Party drop the suggestion he's Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery. And she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards – Purple Heart, Bronze Star; showed that he died in Iraq; gave his date of birth, date of death. He was twenty years old. And then at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Karim Rashad Sultan Kahn. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey, he was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11 and he waited until he could go serve his country and he gave his life.

-General Colin Powell (October 19, 2008)

Neocons.

I'm often asked about my pure, unadulterated hatred for the Republican Party, do I really paint all Republican politicians with the same brush? Not exactly, there are two types of Republicans in the party right now - those who were complacent in the hijacking of their party and the ones who orchestrated it, the Neoconservatives... Neocons. About two years ago, many Republicans started crying that they wanted their party back after the Neocons destroyed it, but I say too bad. Republicans sold out to the religious right and corporate interests, in order to get votes and when you make your bed, you have to lie in it.

But much like the Taliban in Afghanistan, there's been a Neocon resurgence in the 2008 presidential election. It looked like we may have begun to close the book on this sad era of American government, but then John McCain just had to go to the frozen tundra of Alaska and uncover the archetypal Neocon - The Abominable Sarah Palin. Yes, the governor is everything the Neocons look for in a candidate - Bible-thumping, attractive, folksy (talks in a cute accent of some kind... nothing foreign though), and incredibly stupid but proud of it.

The Neocons had to have been so proud of their young apprentice over this past weekend as they watched her perform that amazing sleight of hand that they're all so good at. A bi-partisan committee made up of eight Republicans and four Democrats finished their investigation into the so-called "Troopergate" scandal and found that Governor Palin unlawfully abused her power and violated the state's ethics bill. Gov. Palin's response?

"Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing... any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that."

This is how ballsy the Neocons have become. They can be standing over a dead body with a knife in their hand and say "see? I had nothing to do with it." It's pretty damn funny, but it would be a lot more humorous if these people weren't running the country. These clowns have become so accustomed to no one calling them out on their bullshit, that they don't even try anymore.

"Hey governor, this investigation says you your office to settle personal vendettas."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Oh, okay."

Remember, this is the campaign that has been making such an issue about Barack Obama's character and judgment, meanwhile the Republicans have a candidate who selected an incredibly corrupt, embarassingly unqualified and incredibly ignorant governor of the third smallest state (population-wise) in the nation. What does that say about character and judgment?

When Barack Obama made the claim about people being "bitter" and "clinging to guns and religion," he was talking about the kind of people that have voted in the Neocons. These people are generally decent human beings, they've just been screwed over by the government so much, that they no longer trust them to help economically. However, the Neocons know how to appeal to these people without actually having to help them, they pander to them with God and Guns. Neocons run on a platform of government being ineffecient (which it is when they're in charge of it), so they tell "small-town" folk, to not vote for those silly Democrats because they'll take your guns away and get rid of God. These people then pull the lever for the W's of the world and then the Neocons take power and do nothing to help those who voted for them, that's what Obama was talking about.

But after eight years of the country going to absolute shit, people have smartened up and the Neocons have to up their tactics. Simple, small-town people aren't enough anymore, they have to engage in full-on culture war and energize the lunatic fringe of America. So while the Neocons run a campaign based on fear, distortion and flat-out lies, they start to energize a certain portion of America that is unlike anything we've seen in decades. Blatant racism, bigotry, homophobia, xenophobia, it's all out there and the Republican Party is playing with fire. John McCain used to be above all this but he sold his soul to the Neocons and now the genie can't go back in the bottle - he will regret his entire campaign from the moment he picked Sarah Palin until these final three weeks that have highlighted the ugliest portions of America. And just like those Republicans that wanted their party back a couple years ago, sorry John, you made your bed.

The country is going to go in one of two directions in the event of an Obama victory. If it's a landslide, the Neocon Republicans will likely take a critical blow; I'm hopeful that the party will die an embarrassing death and all of these criminals that hijacked America will be run out of office permanently to make way for a new, better political party to be the yin to the Democrats' yang, but I don't think the country will be that lucky. But in the event of an extremely close race, it's just going to get uglier. The Neocons will fight Obama tooth and nail and do whatever they can to sabotage his presidency. If they succeed, I fully expect them to run Sarah Palin in 2012, which should be a scary enough thought to get you in the voting booth on November 4.

Barack Obama needs a clear, decisive victory to put an end to Neocon rule once and for all and Sarah Palin needs to be forever-regarded as the biggest embarassment this country has ever seen on a political stage. Obama's not perfect, but Palin isn't even below average and if she's the direction the Neocons want to take this great nation, then it needs to be stopped now. Palin can never be allowed in a position of federal power because I fully believe she'll get in her helicopter and shoot America in the back of the head.

McCain wants a cookie for things he's supposed to do

I'm getting tired of people telling me that I need to respect John McCain for correcting people at his rallies that call Obama a terrorist or Arab (which apparently to McCain supporters, simply being an Arab is bad). Wow, way to go Johnny, you're putting out the fires that your campaign's been pouring gas on for the last two weeks. That's like a serial killer expecting parole because he hasn't murdered anyone lately.

To be brutally honest, I have absolutely no sympathy or respect left for John McCain; I want him to lose in November, I want him to lose his next Senate campaign and I want him out of our political system altogether. I say this because I want to have some memories of the John McCain that I once respected and admired, a man whose story hadn't been cheapened by the campaign and a man that just seemed like a decent human being. This election has changed John McCain and I can't feel sorry for him because he brought every bit of this on himself. Great, he finally managed to reign in some of the idiot racists at his campaign rallies, but this is still the guy that decided to associate himself with slimy, disgusting figures like Karl Rove, Rick Davis and Sarah Palin, he should have expected this negative tone when he aligned with these scumbags.

The far right is all over who Obama is associating with, but what about McCain? Let's take a look at McCain's shady friends and ask why the media isn't bringing them up whenever a McCain surrogate talks about who Obama "pals around" with:

Karl Rove - A man who was once described as "Bush's Brain," he got George W. Bush the Republican nomination for president in 2000 after running an incredibly sleazy primary campaign against John McCain. Rove's smears included allegations that McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter was his "illegitimate black baby," and that the Arizona senator didn't support funding for breast cancer. As a member of the Bush Administration, Rove was instrumental in the US Attorney Scandal, the political destruction of an Alabama governor, and the outing of a CIA Agent, which last time I checked, is an act of treason. It should be noted that Rove was never convicted of any link to the outing of the agent's identity, but we'll never know since he brazenly ignored congressional subpoenas and the spineless Democrats in congress just let him slither away. Rove is now a FOX News contributor and an advisor to the McCain campaign, which would be a blatant conflict of interest if FOX News was ever considered a legitimate form of journalism.

Rick Davis - A registered Washington lobbyist and the chief executive officer of John McCain's presidential campaign. Davis was the head of a group that lobbied on behalf of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac where he earned over $30,000 a month; as of August of this year, it was revealed that Davis was still receiving $15,000 a month from Fannie and Freddie. Of course, we now know that the actions of those companies are largely responsible for the current mortgage crisis that has caused our current economic crisis. But the fun doesn't stop there, in 2006, Davis also set up a meeting between John McCain and a man by the name of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire. Later that same year, the United States revoked Deripaska's visa, denying him entry into the country due to his connection with organized crime.

G. Gordon Liddy - A man that McCain desribes as an "old friend" that he's "very proud of." Liddy is a convicted criminal who was sentenced to twenty years in prison due to his role in the infamous Watergate scandal. Liddy was convicted of conspiracy, illegal wiretapping and burglary, but he also admitted plotting to murder a journalist, kidnapping leftists, and bombing the Brookings Institution. For this lovely behavior, Liddy was rewarded with a commuted sentence and his own radio show where he encouraged his listeners to shoot ATF agents in the face. He has donated at least $5,000 to McCain campaigns since 1998 and their relationship is far more concrete than Obama's ties to 1960s radical William Ayers.

Funny how the media never brings any of this up, isn't it? One could make an argument that it's underlying racism and it's a lot easier to connect the dots of "terrorism" to a guy named Barack Hussein Obama than an old white guy named John Sidney McCain, but I don't this it's that nefarious on the media's part. Honestly, I just think it goes back to the lazy journalism I often discuss - the media will talk about whatever the campaigns talk about and since the McCain campaign is playing up on their racist supporters' unrelenting hatred of Barack Obama, it's what the media will report on.

But unless John McCain answers for his associations with men who have been accused of treason, connections to organized crime and domestic terrorism, why should I be taking any of these accusations against Obama seriously? Honestly, do I think these connections disqualify McCain from the presidency? Of course not, but I have to ask why no responsible journalist is using McCain's own tactics against him when he has just as many (if not more) shady associates than Obama. If this is the political climate we're going to create, why aren't these questions being asked of McCain?

So to go back to the original point, no I'm not going to give McCain a thumbs up for suddenly telling racists that Barack Obama isn't an Arab while his running-mate is still out there repeating these ridiculous charges. He is responsible for setting this tone and now he has to undercut his message of the last two weeks while simultaneously taking heat from the racists and fringe-lunatics that have been coming out to hear that very message. I know that McCain doesn't believe any of this garbage that his surrogates have been spewing lately, so I hope it burns just a bit hotter now that this has blown up in his face.

Republicans cry "VOTER FRAUD!" as country collectively groans.

Top news item on FOX News today? Was it the roller coaster ride that the stock market took? Oh no, today's top story was something extremely important to our country as a whole - voter fraud; an issue I'm surprised to see that Republicans suddenly care about.

Make no mistake, if there are issues with voter registration, then it needs to be investigated and fixed immediately, but the Republicans crying foul? That's like a guy who beats his wife calling the cops when she gets fed up and hits him in the face with a frying pan. Voter fraud allegations coming from the Republican party is damn funny when you look back at the last two presidential elections. All I really have to say is "Florida 2000" and "Ohio 2004" and the Republicans should shut the fuck up - between disenfranchisement, blocking registration, voter suppression, illegal voter purging, Katherine Harris, Ken Blackwell, and voting machines, Republicans have absolutely no room to talk.

But this sudden outrage should not surprise you, it's typical Republican sleight of hand. Remember, this is the same party that, during the primaries, referred to Hillary Clinton as a "bitch," a "whiner" and when she brought up sexism, they claimed she was "hiding behind the apron strings." The far-right has had it out for the Clintons since 1992 and they have never let up - they've called Chelsea Clinton a dog, John McCain himself called her ugly; Hillary's been called every name in the book and Bill... well we all know how Republicans feel about Bill Clinton. All that changed of course when McCain picked Governor Avon Lady as his running-mate and suddenly any question directed at Palin was "sexist." Calling Hillary Clinton a bitch is okay, but we're supposed to play nice with Governor Avon Lady, who is best described as everything a woman shouldn't be? But it goes further than Hillary Clinton, this is the same party that has voted against every women's issue, ever: abortion, equal pay, proper sex education, violence against women, you name it, the Republicans have opposed legislation for it.

To bring things back to voter fraud, the Republicans have already been devising schemes to keep certain groups of people from voting. In Michigan, a Republican official bragged about a plan to keep people away from the voting booth if their house was in foreclosure, even if they were still living in the home on election day. Remember, Republicans aren't concerned about people voting, they're worried about a couple million poor people voting that have realized the right-wing has destroyed this country in the last eight years. So please, don't be fooled by these criminals who are suddenly whining because an isolated group on the other side started getting their hands just as dirty... you reap what you sow. This is the environment Republicans have created and it has dealt a critical blow to our country, I can't say that I'm surprised some have decided to strike back.

Seriously though, I want all these issues on both sides to be resolved quickly and fairly. Let's have a fair election for once, let's make sure everyone has the chance to vote and let's actually count all the ballots this time. But despite their newfound love of Democracy, I don't think that's the kind of election the Republicans really want when they still have the dark cloud of George W. Bush lingering over them.

Support the Troops? Vote Obama

You hear it all the time, "I support the troops!" It's easy to say, doesn't cost anything and it makes the person saying it sound noble. Governor Palin is running around saying that Barack Obama doesn't support our troops, harsh words, but John McCain does have that strong military image, so obviously he would support our troops more, right?

Well... no. Not at all.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America (IAVA) released their scorecard today for the candidates and good ol' troop-loving, "we're winning in Iraq" John McCain scored a D. That's not a typo; Senators Obama and Biden each scored a B, Sarah Palin did not receive a grade because she's never done anything, ever. McCain scored so low mainly because he's missed just about every crucial vote for veterans in the last year (most notably the new GI Bill), he missed more votes than a congressman that was in a coma. In 2007, McCain missed 10 out of 14 votes on Iraq alone, remember that the next time someone you know brings up Obama voting "present" in the Illinois State Senate (which is a completely bullshit line of attack anyway, "present" is used as a protest vote in Illinois).

Cindy McCain has recently been out on the campaign trail attacking Senator Obama for voting "against funding for my son in Iraq," she claims that vote "sent a cold chill" down her spine. But did she feel that same chill when John McCain voted against similar legislation just two months later? To clear up this issue that has been discussed since the VP debate, Obama voted against the bill because it had no timetable for withdrawal in Iraq - the most pointless war in this country's history - Senator McCain voted against a similar bill months later because it contained a timetable for withdrawal.

There's a reason why deployed troops donate to Obama six times more than John McCain, they know that Obama is the steady hand they need as Commander in Chief. Obama knows we're in a different kind of war, there is no "victory" in Iraq, no matter how many times McCain says it. General David Petraeus, a name McCain invokes at every chance, has gone on record saying he wouldn't even use the phrase "victory" in Iraq:

“This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade… it’s not war with a simple slogan.”

This isn't World War II, Obama understands it, as do the troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. But why even expect any sort of serious discussion about how we treat our veterans when McCain sings little songs about sending them in to bomb Iran? To put it bluntly, if you want to be able to accurately state you support the troops, you should cast your vote for Barack Obama on November 4.

John McFussy

Today the McCain campaign came out and called the Obama campaign "fussy" due to their "sensitivity." We went over this yesterday, pointing out the glaring hypocrisy in calling Obama "touchy" when McCain flew off into a fit of rage when anyone asked a question about Sarah Palin. No one even asked a legitimate question like, "you do realize that this woman is the biggest embarrassment in American political history, right?" but instead they got angry at a question like "what newspapers do you read?"

During last night's debate, John McCain called Barack Obama "that one." Now, a lot of people are making an issue out of this, but I'll give McCain the benefit of the doubt and say he didn't mean it in any sort of racist way, but when you're a 72 year old white man, it's probably not a good idea to refer to a young black man in that manner. Racial undertones aside, the comment was unbelievably rude and dismissive and it shows that McCain has little respect for his opponent; he has a name and a title, it's Senator Obama, not "that one."

I shouldn't be surprised though, that's been the entire tone of the campaign since McCain's poll numbers started to nosedive - try to dismiss Barack Obama. As I've said numerous times, John McCain has no agenda that really differs from the policies of George W. Bush, so of course his only weapon is to distort and smear Obama, then say he's being "too touchy." Yeah, I'm a little touchy when someone calls me an America-hating terrorist, which is exactly what Governor Avon Lady has been doing since Saturday. These McCain campaign rallies have all been started by someone invoking Obama's middle name, Hussein, as if it's some sort of epithet and then Palin comes on stage to call Obama a terrorist's best friend. That's a different kind of mudslinging than what you see from the Obama campaign of things like "John McCain has proven over the last two weeks that he is not a steady hand in a crisis and his angry smears distract voters from the real issues in this campaign."

And let's clear up this Obama/domestic terrorist stuff right now - Barack Obama's ties to ex-terrorist William Ayers is about as solid as McCain's ties to ex-terrorist G. Gordon Liddy, I'll let the experts fill you in:

As Media Matters for America has documented in detail, Liddy served four and a half years in prison in connection with his conviction for his role in the Watergate break-in and the break-in at the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Liddy has acknowledged preparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in "if necessary"; plotting to murder journalist Jack Anderson; plotting with a "gangland figure" to murder Howard Hunt to stop him from cooperating with investigators; plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution; and plotting to kidnap "leftist guerillas" at the 1972 Republican National Convention -- a plan he outlined to the Nixon administration using terminology borrowed from the Nazis. (The murder, firebombing, and kidnapping plots were never carried out; the break-ins were.) During the 1990s, Liddy reportedly instructed his radio audience on multiple occasions on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents and also reportedly said he had named his shooting targets after Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Both connections are a stretch and based on events that happened over thirty-five years ago, but of course the media only reports on Obama/Ayers because that's what John McCain talks about. Obama has too much class to stoop that low while McCain has no problem flying erratically all over the map.

Here's the part that really bugs me, if this William Ayers connection of Obama's is so bad and is akin to treason and terrorism like so many idiots at McCain rallies have shouted, then why didn't McCain bring it up in last night's debate? If Obama has ties to terrorism, why would McCain even dignify the man with a meeting or a debate? Why won't John McCain just ask the question, "is Obama a terrorist" rather than dancing around it with things like "who is the real Barack Obama?" C'mon, I thought this was the Straight Talk Express, I thought McCain was the tough maverick that's not afraid to stand up to people? Perhaps it's just the simple fact that McCain knows these ties are bullshit, but he's hoping voters will draw their own conclusions from these smears just like with the Swiftboat ads in 2004?

Did you notice McCain wandering around all over the place during the debate, even when it was Obama's time to talk? I don't think a greater metaphor could be used for McCain's campaign than a broken down, ailing man wandering around like a lost Alzheimer's patient. And they're the ones that want to talk about the other campaign being "fussy?" I pity John McCain because this is not the Arizona senator that I respected and admired, this is a cynical man that is willing to try any gimmick, any stunt or any lie in order to get elected. He has surrounded himself with scum like Rick Davis, Karl Rove and Sarah Palin and has made it perfectly clear that he would rather win an election than to put country first.

Angry Johnny

“If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we’re going to lose.”

Exact words from a top McCain adviser, directly admitting that John McCain has no plan for how to get America back on track. 82% of Americans believe that now is a bad time to find a job - an all-time high since these kinds of polls have been conducted. September saw the ninth straight month of job loss, the unemployment rate is skyrocketing and the government just approved 700 billion of your tax dollars going to bailout - oh I'm sorry, "rescue" - failed financial institutions, and John McCain's campaign has admitted that they can't talk about the economy or else they'll lose. Straight from the horse's mouth: if John McCain is president, the country will get worse. According to another poll taken yesterday by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, the economy is the number one issue to almost 60% of Americans surveyed and John McCain wants to stop talking about it? "Country First" my ass.

Naturally, the strategy now is to attack Barack Obama's character - Sarah Palin is running around saying Obama "pals around" with terrorists, surrogates have resorted to bringing up his middle name, Hussein, for a cheap cheer, and the audience members at McCain's campaign rallies have resorted to flat-out screaming "TERRORIST" or "KILL HIM" when Obama's name is mentioned. These are the kind of people who vote for John McCain - sick, depraved individuals that are calling for the assassination of a political candidate and Obama's the one "palling around" with terrorists?

Governor Palin's husband was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a secessionist group whose founder said of America, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions," and "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. And I won't be buried under their damn flag. I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home." Sarah Palin recorded a welcoming address for AIP's convention earlier this year, yet she's running around saying that Obama's the one who sees America as "imperfect."

I'd be nervous too if I had no agenda for the country with 28 days to go.

John McCain goes out at campaign rallies and says that Obama is "too touchy" and "sensitive" when it comes to questions of his patriotism, yet if you ask McCain if his running-mate is even remotely qualified for the job, he flies off into a fit of rage and declares war against the media. No, not touchy there at all as he shields the precious, delicate flower that is Governor Palin from any questions, even if they're questions asked by a debate moderator. Oh no, Governor Palin doesn't have to answer those questions, but Barack Obama has to entertain ludicrous notions that he somehow sympathizes with someone who did some horrible things when Obama was eight, just because they've been in the same zip code together. Obama has to answer for his pastor's angry comments about America, but Sarah Palin doesn't have to discuss her relationship with a literal witch doctor that protected Palin from witchcraft and prayed for her to be showered with wealth and good fortune. Palin partially credits this man "laying hands on her" as part of the reason she was elected governor of Alaska.

Barack Obama gets attacked for saying that people in small towns are fed up with the government to help them economically, so all they have to hang onto is the government pandering to them with guns and religion. That, while ridiculously true, gets attacked from all sides as a gaffe while Sarah Palin goes out and says women that don't vote for her will go to Hell, and no one says a thing. Barack Obama is a "liberal elitist" for not eating fried food, but no one calls Sarah Palin a disgusting savage for shooting defenseless wolves from a helicopter.

As John McCain's campaign continues to drown and his poll numbers sink like an anchor tied to another anchor, he is relying on the kitchen sink strategy in the last four weeks of the election. His own people admit that they cannot win on the issues, a few weeks ago, his senior campaign manager even tried to say this election was about personalities rather than the issues, so I understand why they're doing what they're doing. They can't win, all they can do is make Barack Obama lose by reminding voters that he's "different," which of course is a code word for "black." It doesn't matter if none of these smears are even remotely close to being true, they just need the voters to connect the dots, even if they don't form a picture.

McCain is bitter, out of touch and has completely sold his credibility and dignity for this last shot and becoming President of the United States and if trends hold, it will blow up in his face. John McCain will not win this election on his record, his positions or his judgment and it's saddening to see him turned into just another neo-conservative puppet. The John McCain of 2000 would never vote for the John McCain of 2008:

Couldn't have said it better, John.

There's a place in Hell for Sarah Palin

I want to share with you a direct quote from Sarah Palin:

"There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women."

Yes, I swear to you she said this and I'll give you video proof in just a moment. To clarify what the governor was talking about, she claims she was quoting former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Here's the full quote in context:

"I'm reading on my Starbucks mocha cup, ok? The quote of the day... It was Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State [crowd boos] and UN ambassador. ... Now she said it, I didn't. She said, 'There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women.'"

Of course, Albright never said that. In fact, Albright's exact words were "There's a special place in Hell for women who don't help other women." Big damn difference. One implies that if you're a woman that doesn't vote for Sarah Palin, you're going to Hell. The other implies that if you're a woman and you do nothing to help your gender (you know, like Sarah Palin), then you're going to Hell. So if the governor wants to use that quote while running on the ticket that doesn't support a woman's right to choose, equal pay for equal work and all the other women's issues that McCain has voted against over the last 26 years, then I think it's perfectly acceptable to say that Sarah Palin will rot in the fiery pits of hell. Of course, Satan will probably jam his pitchfork through his ears after listening to her talk for about two hours - I could barely survive 90 minutes on Thursday - so while he's recovering, I'm sure she'll find some way to change Hell's constitution and give power to herself.

Once Palin finished delivering another gem, she followed up with a taunt to the media "turning it into" something tomorrow. Hey governor, they wouldn't make a big deal out of it if you weren't butchering someone's quote to make it sound like anyone that votes against you is anti-woman, I know it's all a game to you, but you sound like an asshole. Oh and you claim you read it on your "Starbucks Mocha," whoa there, Governor, Starbucks? Sounds a bit like a hoity-toity latte-drinking Liberal to me! ELITIST!!!

Gotcha!

It's not "gotcha journalism" just because you're a moron.

This is the latest coming out of the McCain campaign, the tried and true Republican tactic of blaming the "liberal" media for Sarah Palin's inability to answer questions that were asked of her in the two real interviews that she's given to the press. Yeah, that Katie Couric must be so "in the tank" for Obama since she asked that ridiculously hard question, "what newspapers do you read?" Read very closely because I'm about to tell you something that may seem surprising and I know we've gone over it before, but I assure you, it's true: there is no such thing as the liberal media. Make no mistake, there's a right-wing, neo-conservative media - FOX News, New York Post, Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Review, Weekly Standard, and pretty much every AM talk station you've ever listened - but liberal media? Sorry, doesn't exist. Oh, there's a few tiny outlets for strictly liberal thought like Air America Radio, but if you're looking for hardcore liberal media, you're only going to find it on the internet where any jackass with a keyboard can express his thoughts (oh the crippling irony!) In terms of traditional media - radio, television, newspaper, magazines - it's dominated by three groups: 1. conservatives, 2. extremely lazy reporters, and 3. the dying breed - actual journalists.

I got into a less-than-polite disagreement with someone today who, in so many words, told me that I shouldn't bash McCain/Palin because I don't know them personally, nor can I believe everything the media tells me. The first part of that, not knowing them personally, is incredibly stupid, but I'll forgive it since I provoked the hasty response; the second portion however, did strike a chord, you can't always trust the media. But is it because of a liberal bias? No, it's because of general laziness... or fear. The media doesn't do its job anymore because politicians refuse to talk to the press - if a journalist asks tough questions to a Republican, they're labeled as liberal and their newspaper or TV station will never get another interview with that particular candidate.

Sarah Palin has furthered this to embarrassing new lows by doing a measly two interviews with a non-FOX network since becoming John McCain's running-mate. Here's a woman that was literally unknown to the overwhelming majority of non-Alaskans until five weeks ago and she can't even give interviews without preconditions? Obviously, we all know why, if you saw any of the Katie Couric or Charlie Gibson interviews, you understand that Governor Palin is ridiculously unqualified for her position and quite frankly, is a fucking idiot. Don't get me wrong, Palin is an educated woman and probably knows a lot about Alaska, but when it comes to being on the national stage? Yeah, "fucking idiot" is the proper term to use. Some of her answers were like watching fourth graders try to answer test questions about a book they didn't read - just string together a bunch of words and hope they make sense, even if they're completely unrelated to the topic at hand. She did this in the debate last night as well, though it wasn't as obvious since it was paced so quickly that it wound up being in her favor until people had a few hours to think about it.

"Gee golly Katie, I guess you could say Highlights for Children really helped me shape my world view! That and Guns & Ammo, you betcha!"

So let's just set the record straight, Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson and the majority of the mainstream media are not biased against Governor Palin. Hell, the McCain campaign picked Couric to come out on the campaign trail with Palin for nine days, so whatever happened there, they brought on themselves. I know we were all surprised to see it, but yes, Katie Couric showed some real journalism in her interviews with the Governor. There is no liberal agenda in asking a candidate running for the #2 highest office in the land what newspapers they read or if they can name a single Supreme Court case. Palin froze on both of those because she is clueless, not because Couric is an Obama surrogate. This is journalism, folks - asking candidates tough questions because being President and Vice President are tough jobs. We shouldn't be voting for people just because they make us feel fuzzy inside or because they talk like characters in Fargo.

The McCain campaign knows this and it's why they're doing exactly what I predicted they would do in last night's blog - keeping Palin out of the spotlight for the next 30 days. She won't be on any of the Sunday morning talk shows, she won't be sitting down with anyone else from CBS, ABC or NBC, no press conferences, nothing. She scraped by in the debate last night and managed to halt her freefall into the complete destruction of her credibility, but her handlers know that she is not ready to be on television, let alone Vice President or worse, President of the United States of America.

That's what a John McCain vote gets you on November 4, a Vice President whose own campaign openly acknowledges that she is not even ready to stand up to the former host of The Today Show, yet you're supposed to think she can handle Vladimir Putin and Osama bin Laden.

Maverick, Bipartisan, Corruption on Wall Street, Joe Sixpack and Golly Jeepers!

I'll have more on all the debates in an upcoming writing, but here's my quick analysis of tonight's contest between the two Vice Presidential contenders:

She didn't answer a single question that was asked, she didn't offer any differences between McCain and Bush, she didn't say anything new, she lied and she talked like Ned Flanders...

...But I'm sorry, Sarah Palin won this debate. She managed to come across like someone who had a clue, even if it wasn't a clue about the question that was asked, but it was perfect Republican sleight of hand. Your average person isn't going to sit there and say "oh well she wasn't really answering the question that was asked," they're just going to absorb whatever the hell Palin was talking about. Her cram session paid off and she spewed talking points like it was nobody's business without sounding like the complete mental invalid that she has with Katie Couric. All they have to do now is keep her out of the spotlight for the next 30 days or so and McCain is back in the saddle.

Biden did fine, but he was on the defensive the entire time and never once went after Palin for fear of being labeled sexist. If this debate were Hillary Clinton vs. Sarah Palin, the governor would have been humiliated and this race would be over, but of course, we would have heard the media use the phrase "catfight" a couple thousand times tonight, so I'm glad things turned out this way. Regardless of her winning the debate, I don't think this does much for McCain except slow the hemorrhaging that she has caused the campaign since the Charlie Gibson interview and only worsened with Couric. I don't think she's swayed anyone to her side, but she probably revved up the Republican base that were desperately in need of something to point to in order to defend this embarrassing pick for VP. At least now they can say she beat Joe Biden in a debate, but anyone with half a brain saw that she never answered a single question that was asked and managed to bullshit her way out of stuff she was clueless on. George W. Bush must be so proud!