One More Day

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Rick Sanchez is My Hero

I've always viewed Rick Sanchez of CNN as just another TV talking head. In the last two days he has practiced something sorely missing on television these days - journalism.

This relates to this tape. The McCainiacs are everywhere claiming that Obama "pals around" with anti-Semites. It should be noted that the "anti-Semite" in question is a Palestinian, i.e. a Semite. What they really mean is that he's against the Jews. The fact is that he is against Israeli policy.  Not the same thing.

So here's the end of one of these segments:

The McCain campaign has made a decision  not to speak the name of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but Sanchez confirmed today that unnamed sources in the McCain campaign confirmed that's who Goldfarb was referring to. 

Sanchez then nailed a conservative talk show host appearing on CNN with the same journalistic technique, trying to make him give facts or specifics to support the vague attacks. He couldn't. Hopefully that will show up on youtube as well.

It's time for the "press" to press these surrogates to defend their attacks with specifics, and to stop reporting such charges without comment when they can be proven false.

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Fox News Announces McCain Campaign Is Over

This was posted yesterday, and since then Moody's story has been proven false. Emphasis is mine:

Less than two weeks before we vote for a new president, a white woman says a black man attacked her, then scarred her face, and says there was a political motive for it.

Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old white volunteer for John McCain’s presidential campaign, says she was mugged at an ATM machine in Pittsburgh (my hometown) by a big black man. She further says he threw her down, then disfigured her by carving the letter “B” into her face with a sharp implement when he saw that she supported McCain, not Barack Obama.

Part of the appeal of, and the unspoken tension behind, Senator Obama’s campaign is his transformational status as the first African-American to win a major party’s presidential nomination.

That does not mean that he has erased the mutual distrust between black and white Americans, and this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election.

If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.

If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.

- John Moody, Executive VP, Fox News

And the reason why McCain's campaign is linked to this race-baiting is their communications director in PA was pushing this story before the facts were known. 

Waiting for McCain to apologize and fire him.

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I Voted Today!

And it felt so good! 

I really like turning out on election day and had resisted getting a mail ballot, although more than half the registered voters in my state have done so.

But I found myself available in mid-afternoon and so went down to one of the early voting places that opened today. It was busy, but only a short line.

That's one for Obama. And according to CNN, McCain  may be giving up on my swing state as I write this.

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General Powell's Moving Endorsement

"...It was a photo essay about troops who are 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 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way."

And after:

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War Room

Sundance Channel was running "The War Room" this afternoon, the documentary about the Clinton campaign in 1992 where James Carville invented the concept of a campaign war room and rapid response. I thought it an interesting point in history to watch it.

It's been well documented that there was a sign that said "The Economy, Stupid." But what I didn't know was above that line it said "Change vs. More of the Same."

David Axelrod knows that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

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Getting Real

Two years ago, Senator George Allen may have lost his re-election bid due to a remark that welcomed an American who didn't look American enough to him to "the real world of Virginia."

Republicans evidently did not learn a lesson from that and as per Palin's comments the other day, continue to use language attempting to divide us.

Here's the latest reference to the "real Virginia" followed by a reprise of George Allen:

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The Anti-Bradley Effect

I'm thinking -- or perhaps hoping -- there's an Anti-Bradley Effect going on.

The Bradley Effect is when in an election with a black candidate facing a white candidate, a percentage of white voters will tell pollsters they are voting for the black guy because they don't want to admit they're actually voting against him because he's black. It's been a concern this might be the case in this year's presidential race.

But I'm wondering if the opposite might be happening: White folks in Appalachia who are not necessarily racists but still uncomfortable about African-Americans, who don't want to admit they are desperate enough to actually vote for the black guy.

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Palin's Real America

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom."

- Sarah Palin

So, Sarah, please tell us exactly what parts of the United States are not "the real America." What are the areas where people are not "hard-working, patriotic, pro-America?"

Do you mean all the cities, perhaps? Or just Cambridge, MA and Hollywood, CA? Are you saying there is not kindness on the south side of Chicago, people protecting in uniform in the Bronx, soldiers from Compton?

Please explain what you meant by this statement.

Which parts of America do you wish to be Vice President of?

Which Americans do you plan to represent in office?

Let me tell you who is un-American, madam. You are. You who seek to value only those who agree with you, and to devalue those who disagree. You who wish to divide us by where we live, how we live, and what we believe. You who will say just about anything to win an election. You represent some of the worst this country has to offer.

I do agree with the phrase that was hurled at me as an epithet when I protested the Viet Nam war:

America, love it or leave it.

Loving America means living your life according to your values. It means standing up for what you believe, and like anything or anyone you truly love, being able to say when it is doing something wrong and trying to change it.

So Sarah, we who live in cities, we who work in offices, veterans who live on the streets having been abandoned by your party, we are patriotic, we are pro-America, we believe in the American ideal. Do you?

MESILLA, NM -- Joe Biden today accused his Republican counterpart of engaging in the same kind of divisive politics seen in the Bush Administration, saying he has yet to find a part of the country that is not “pro-America.”

“Folks, it doesn’t matter where you live, we all love this country,” he said. “One of the reasons why Barack and I are running is that we know how damaging the politics of division that continues to be practiced by the McCain campaign, how damaging this policy of division has been for Americans over the last decade or more.”

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Palin, please tell us which areas of the country are NOT "pro-America"

Palin also made a point of mentioning that she loved to visit the "pro-America" areas of the country, of which North Carolina is one.

- Washington Post

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Joe the plumber has held more press conferences than V.P. candidate Sarah Palin.

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Brought to You By the Virginia Republican Party

It probably does not need to be said that none of the actual examples of evil men noted inside the flier are black. I'm sure the Party would say this image represents an American looking at evil, but the truth is clearly it is meant to represent evil, and whether the subject is actually Obama or just someone who looks like him, we know, Virginia Republican Party, this this is racist trash.

I'm waiting for John McCain to repudiate it. After all, he says he always does.

Details here.

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So Proud!

“Let me just say categorically I'm proud of the people that come to our rallies. Whenever you get a large rally of 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 people, you're going to have some fringe peoples. You know that. And I've -- and we've always said that that's not appropriate.”

- John McCain, at last night's debate

McCain may say it's not appropriate to shout threats and epithets about Obama, but Palin hasn't commented when this happens at her own rallies.

I know an Obama worker who has been to a number of Obama rallies, and he has not witnessed any negativity, period. The most he could come up with was seeing buttons saying "How many houses do you own." His point is that Obama speeches and rallies are positive.

I feel a bit sad for McCain because I believe at heart he's a decent man who has allowed operatives to throw his principles overboard in order to win. Then, when the negativity gets out of hand -- in his presence -- he'll try to close Pandora's box by saying things like (paraphrasing) "Obama isn't an Arab, ma'am, he's a decent family man," as if those were opposites.

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Hey McCain, Stop Hiding Behind Your Wife's Skirt

So Cindy McCain has to knock Obama for voting to end funding for her son in Iraq. Of course, most folks don't realize that's the only way Congress can end a war it once authorized. They also don't seem to know McCain has voted against funding the troops when that funding bill included stuff he didn't like.

So McCain is hiding behind his wife's skirt. Letting her say stuff he won't.  Same thing with Palin. Another skirt.

Hey, didn't McCain just see Obama in person?  Funny, he didn't say anything about this, or about Bill Ayres, etc.

As Joe Biden said today, "In my neighborhood, when you’ve got something to say to a guy, you look him in the eye and you say it to him."

As we've seen, McCain can't seem to look Obama in the eye. At both debates, Obama turned to McCain and said what he meant.

Hey Mr. Brave Ex-Prisoner, you scared to say it yourself, much less to Obama in person?

Shameful.

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Filters

I thought Palin did a great job tonight.

That's if you don't count actual answers to actual questions that were asked.

Near the end she said she was glad to talk directly to the American People without the filter of the mainstream media.

Instead, she spoke through her own filter by filtering out all those bothersome questions Gwen Ifill had.  At least Palin was honest. Early on she said she wouldn't be answering those darn questions, at least not the way Ifill and Biden would have liked. 

And now she is free to continue not answering questions. Think you'll see any more interviews by the "mainstream media," much less a press conference, before November 4th? Not a chance. Doggonit.

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The Obfuscation Express

Twice, Steve Inskeep of NPR asks McCain about Palin's foreign policy cred and twice McCain describes her qualifications to be Secretary of Energy in response:

MR. INSKEEP: We’re talking with Senator John McCain. And Senator, as you know, the vice presidential debate comes on Thursday — your running mate, Governor Sarah Palin against Joe Biden. Governor Palin has been asked about her foreign policy qualifications, and cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as one reason she’s qualified. I’d like to ask you, Senator, what specifically do you believe that Alaska’s proximity to Russia adds to Palin’s foreign policy qualifications?

SEN. MCCAIN: Well, I think the fact that they have had certain relationships, but that’s not the major she has stated, and you know that. The major reason she has stated is because she has the knowledge and background on a broad variety of issues, including probably the major challenge of America, and that’s energy independence. And she has been responsible, taken on the oil companies, and we now are going to have a $40 billion dollar natural gas pipeline. She has oversighted the natural gas and oil and natural resources of the state of Alaska and, by the way, quit when she saw corruption there. She has the world view that I have. She is very highly qualified and very knowledgeable.

MR. INSKEEP: Given what you’ve said, Senator, is there an occasion where you could imagine turning to Governor Palin for advice in a foreign policy crisis?

SEN. MCCAIN: I’ve turned to her advice many times in the past. I can’t imagine turning to Senator Obama or Senator Biden because they’ve been wrong. They were wrong about Iraq, they were wrong about Russia. Senator Biden wanted to divide Iraq into three different countries. He voted against the first Gulf War. Senator Obama has no experience whatsoever and has been wrong in the issues that he’s been involved in –

MR. INSKEEP: But would you turn to Governor Palin –

SEN. MCCAIN: — I certainly wouldn’t turn to them, and I’ve already have turned to Governor Palin, particularly on energy issues, and I’ve appreciated her background and knowlege on that and many other issues.

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L'Shanah Tova

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McCain: Don't Listen to Anything Palin Says, Unless It's Scripted For Her

Saturday night, while on a stop for cheesesteaks in South Philadelphia, Sarah Palin was asked by a Temple graduate student about whether the U.S. should cross the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan.

"If that's what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should," Palin said.

"She would not…she understands and has stated repeatedly that we're not going to do anything except in America's national security interest," McCain told ABC's George Stephanopoulos of Palin. "In all due respect, people going around and… sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that's—that's a person's position… This is a free country, but I don't think most Americans think that that's a definitve policy statement made by Governor Palin."

Excerpted from CNN report

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"It was like watching Gidget address the Reichstag"

Must-read Matt Taibbi's Rooling Stone article about Palin.

There's a lot of great ranting in the piece, but here's the sober "money quote":

Democracy doesn't require a whole lot of work of its citizens, but it requires some: It requires taking a good look outside once in a while, and considering the bad news and what it might mean, and making the occasional tough choice, and soberly taking stock of what your real interests are.

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Obama Wasn't Just Making Stuff Up

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