Here's how Dems and Republican House members voted on the bailout package

Bob Deaton tallied up the vote according to the status of the race, and noticed that representatives not running for re-election--most of whom are Republicans--were significantly more likely to support the measure.

Revolt of the Nihilists

In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt inherited an economic crisis. He understood that his first job was to restore confidence, to give people a sense that somebody was in charge, that something was going to be done.

This generation of political leaders is confronting a similar situation, and, so far, they have failed utterly and catastrophically to project any sense of authority, to give the world any reason to believe that this country is being governed. Instead, by rejecting the rescue package on Monday, they have made the psychological climate much worse.

Read more from David Brooks. Plus, MLQ3 is back, and talks re The Great Depression.

(Video) Dems covering up for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Additional commentary on the video from: American Thinker, Classical Values, Hot Air, No Quarters, Rush Limbaugh, Sister Toldjah.

So when are we gonna see a documentary on the corruption Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from liberal Hollywood?

Pelosi is a disaster

She screwed up royally.

Instead of listening to that fool Nancy Pelosi, educate yourself about the root cause of this financial crisis by watching these videos. then after watching, pass it along to your friends.

About that Obama bracelet

didn't the family told him NOT to wear that?

White Rabbit candy tainted with Melamine

Uh oh.

Don't worry Sarah Palin, this nightmare will soon be over

only 39 days left till election day! then you and your fam can go back to alaska and live in peace.

McCain has 2nd chance to redeem himself on Economic issues

Here's my critique of his first performance: Strong on foreign policy/national security, disappointing on economic issues.

He needs to do better than just repeating his anti-earmarks stance in the third debate with Barack Obama.

Maybe the line of the night?

MCCAIN: So let me get this right. We sit down with Ahmadinejad, and he says, “We're going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth,” and we say, “No, you're not?” Oh, please.

Hey, it made obama even laugh.

Another crazy prediction for Sarah Palin

if she fucks up her debate with biden bigtime, and mccain-palin loses in the election, she will be destroyed--a tarnished brand back in Alaska. A fool who gambled her fledgling political career unnecessarily. She will not win re-election for governor in 2010.

Her name will be immortalized alongside Dan Quayle as one of the worst VP picks ever.

So for her political future's sake, this election is a must-win. The debate is important. She needs to win, period. Higher bar for her, i know, but she needs to know what's in store for her if her team loses.

More pity for Sarah Palin.

Reviewing the debate

I think McCain had a good start, but Obama eventually owned him on the issue of economics. McCain is one-note. All he wanted to talk about was cutting spending and earmarks! and McCain started slow on national security (particularly on Iraq) but got better and better as the debates moved forward.

The Verdict: Even. Obama won on the issue of the Economy. McCain won the National Security part.

More: This is good news for Obama to go even with mccain in round 1 on foreign policy and national security because this is mccain's forte, and for him to get a tie is beating CW expectations.

From Kaus: McCain's small victory

UPDATE: Many feel mccain lost in the debates because the economy weighed more than national security among voter concerns, and obama did better on economic issues.

What caused the economic crisis? (video)

A highly informative video that traced the cause of our current crisis that had its roots planted 12 years ago.

(via Drudge)

UPDATE: And watch dems cover up for fannie and freddie in 2004.

Senate Democrats are not dealing in good faith

When the democrats start publicly blaming the other side for using the negotiations as a photo op or injecting presidential politics into this thing, they're playing the same old divisive washington style politics here, putting party ahead of country.

Of course their plan is to make mccain look bad. To make him look like the villain here. Maybe that's the point though... to get mccain to lose his temper.

UDPATE: So did McCain really pull a "stunt" like what the Obama people accused him of? Read this too.

UPDATE: Depends on what your definition of "close" is.

Chris Dodd playing partisan politics with bailout deal

Dodd blamed McCain for injecting himself and presidential politics into the bailout negotiations:

But after the [White House] meeting broke up about an hour later, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Richard C. Shelby (Ala.), who strongly opposes the bailout, told reporters, "I don't believe we have an agreement."...

Sens. McCain (Ariz.) and Obama (Ill.) left the White House after the meeting without speaking to reporters.

A visibly irritated Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, later said on CNN that the meeting was thrown off when Republicans brought up "some new core agreement" that supposedly had been floated by McCain and was being considered by the Treasury Department.

"What this looked like to me was a rescue plan for John McCain," Dodd fumed. "This is a sad day for the country." He said he still hopes that a deal can be struck but that the Republicans "need to get their act together and decide what they're for."

But here's the scoop from Marc Ambinder:

Though Sen. Chris Dodd implied that Sen. McCain sandbagged the rest of the negotiators by bringing up alternative proposals, McCain himself did not bring up those proposals, according to four independent sources briefed by four different principals inside the meeting, including two Republicans and two Democrats.

"McCain has not attacked the Paulson deal," said a third Republican who was briefed by McCain direclty. "Unlike the [Democrats] in the [White House] meeting, he didn't raise his voice or cause a ruckus. He is urging all sides to come together."

Republicans like John Boehner brought up the concerns of House GOPers and McCain acknowledged hearing about their concerns. And McCain, and staffers, did seek to gauge the level of support of the GOP working group's white paper. The Democrats were left with the impression that McCain endorsed the GOP efforts, but they concede that he did not raise them directly.

After this election's over, McCain won't be a media darling anymore

because opposing bush on all sorts of issues won't be the same as opposing barack obama.

Blaming McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis for the FANNIE MAE collapse

is like blaming Johnnie Cochran for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. I'm sorry but it wasn't any lobbyist who ran FANNIE MAE to the ground. It wasn't the Republicans who blocked passage of a necessary reform bill by a party line vote that would have prevented exactly what happened to Fannie Mae. Look which candidate is getting the most contributions from FANNIE MAE from 1989-2008.

Delay the debates and get the bailout deal done

I think both candidates need to go back to washington to work together, focus on the problem, and craft a bipartisan deal to save the economy. Reschedule the debate on foreign policy and national security at another time.

Reid to McCain yesterday: Tell us what to do

Michael Goldfarb:

While Senator McCain has suspended campaigning in order to return to Washington and lend his assistance to the negotiations now underway on the Hill, Senator Reid has put out a statement informing McCain that his presence would "not be helpful." In fact, this is quite a reversal from yesterday, when Senator Reid told reporters "We need the Republican nominee for president to let us know where he stands and what we should do."

Unfortunately, Senator Reid is putting partisan politics ahead of the business of the American people. But there should be no mistake: 24 hours ago Reid and his Democratic colleagues on the Hill couldn't have been more desperate for Senator McCain's help in resolving this crisis. Now they've got it.

Angry David Letterman mocks McCain Cancellation

McCain cancelled an appearance on The Late Show earlier in the day because he said he had to rush back to DC to help lawmakers deal with the economy. This did not sit well with Dave.

But Barack Obama had to cancel an opening day appearance for SNL on Sept 13 too in NY because of hurricane Ike.

Their strong showing helped make up for the fact that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama -- who was scheduled to make a guest appearance at least once during the program -- didn't show. Executive producer Lorne Michaels got the bad news Friday night at 10, about 24 hours after hearing from the Obama campaign that the senator definitely would appear.

"His people called and said they felt they had to shut it down because of the storm," meaning Hurricane Ike, Michaels said yesterday by phone from New York. "I pleaded with them to wait and make the decision on Saturday morning, but they felt they had to do it then. There was a sensitivity to how it would be perceived -- whether he would be criticized for doing it while disaster struck."

Did he make the right decision? "It was certainly the wrong decision for me," Michaels said. "Do I think there's an oversensitivity in this area? Yes." But Michaels said he would be happy to have Obama appear on a future show, provided a good sketch can be devised. "It was an enormous disappointment," Michaels said, "but they were very pleasant about it -- 'Please have us back again' and all that."

In the words of the announcement from the Obama camp: "In light of the unfolding crisis in Texas, Senator Obama has decided it is no longer appropriate to appear on 'Saturday Night Live' tomorrow evening."

The monologue, by guest host and Olympic swimming champ Michael Phelps, was to have been built around Obama and would have included an additional cameo by action star Chuck Norris. But Norris, too, canceled because of the hurricane, and William Shatner was enlisted as his replacement. Shatner was already en route from Los Angeles via chartered airplane when Obama dropped out; the monologue was reworked so that it would still include a Shatner cameo.

"It was great of him to do it," Michaels said of Shatner. Michaels said Obama was to have returned briefly for a second appearance, during the "Weekend Update" segment, but that was obviously scuttled, too.

UDPATE: Letterman video



I do hope Dave will reschedule a guest appearance for McCain and McCain accepts (after the trashing he got from Letterman.)

Who's responsible for the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mess? (video)

(ht Insta)

Villar demolished by Joker's own words

re the Road to Nowhere double entry. back in 1998.

the 1998 version of Joker Arroyo would find the 2008 version of Joker reprehensible. Or maybe he was against it before he was for it?

If we had to redo the primaries all over again...

with the economy now the main issue, I bet democrats would choose Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama instead. And Mitt Romney might get a better shot at the GOP nomination (or, McCain might have selected him over Sarah Palin.)

Bill Clinton on "The View" (video)

It's a good one.

Al Franken uses SNL to attack John McCain

Stuart Smalley helps craft latest SNL skit on GOP prez nominee.

Fannie Mae is "Patient Zero" in this Financial Crisis

the mainstream media is trying to make it sound like the Fannie Mae collapse is a bipartisan affair, but like what mickey kaus said, there's a difference:

Obama so deserves to, finally, take this hit for choosing Fannie Mae macher Jim Johnson to vet his VP prospects. (See earlier.)... Did Obama tap Johnson because after two years in the Senate Obama had become part of the "Washington culture of lobbying and influence peddling" as McCain charges--or because as a newcomer he was naive about that Washington culture and quickly got co-opted? Either way, it was an obvious, conventional, atrocious choice. ... P.S.: The Obama campaign has countered by releasing a list of McCain aides who lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What the release demonstrates is that while Fannie Mae was a peculiarly Democratic scam--habitually justified as a way to bring home-ownership to the less advantaged--its leaders successfully tried to buy both parties. Still, lobbying for Fannie Mae's disastrous operation (McCain campaign manager Rick Davis) isn't the same thing as running Fannie Mae's disastrous operation (Johnson).

And Mccain seems to be now making hay out of this Democratic Enron. Here's more from McCain calling for tough reforms on Fannie Mae back in 2005.

Did Laura Ingraham have a nose job recently?

her nose looked different during the Bill O'Reilly interview yesterday.

Franklin Raines and Bill Burton are telling half-truths

Franklin Raines: "I am not an advisor to Barack Obama, nor have I provided his campaign with advice on housing or economic matters."

Bill Burton: "This is another flat-out lie from a dishonorable campaign that is increasingly incapable of telling the truth. Frank Raines has never advised Senator Obama about anything -- ever."

But even the Washington Post had to admit the following:

Since this has now become a campaign issue, I asked Huslin to provide the exact circumstances of the quote. She explained that she was chatting with Raines during the photo shoot, and asked "if he was engaged at all with the Democrats' quest for the White House. He said that he had gotten a couple of calls from the Obama campaign. I asked him about what, and he said 'oh, general housing, economy issues.' ('Not mortgage/foreclosure meltdown or Fannie-specific,' I asked, and he said 'no.')"

By Raines's own account, he took a couple of calls from someone on the Obama campaign, and they had some general discussions about economic issues.

And the ad never said Raines was an official advisor to Obama. But it clearly stated that Obama was getting advice from Raines on a host of issues, in an unofficial capacity. So bill burton doesn't really know what he is talking about. and raines is telling half-truths.

UPDATE: The Obama campaign's ties with former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines.

Barack Obama's ties with former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines

From the Washington Post (July 16, 2008):

In the four years since he stepped down as Fannie Mae's chief executive under the shadow of a $6.3 billion accounting scandal, Franklin D. Raines has been quietly constructing a new life for himself. He has shaved eight points off his golf handicap, taken a corner office in Steve Case's D.C. conglomeration of finance, entertainment and health-care companies and more recently, taken calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters.

From the washington post (July 17, 2008):

Obama also has ties to the firms. James A. Johnson, the former head of his vice presidential vetting panel, was a chief executive of Fannie Mae, as was Franklin D. Raines, who said this week that he has been consulting with the campaign on housing issues. Maria Echaveste, a top Clinton White House official whose husband, Christopher Edley Jr., is a close Obama friend and adviser, has lobbied for Freddie Mac, and former commerce secretary William M. Daley, a top Obama backer, was an in-house lobbyist.

UPDATE: the airbrushing of raines' wikipedia.

UPDATE: more here.

The McCain Campaign is running the SLEAZIEST, DIRTIEST, the MOST DISHONEST AND DISHONORABLE CAMPAIGN in the HISTORY of MANKIND!

Shame on you John McCain! you are a man of NO HONOR! DISHONORABLE!

Who do you think is more ready to lead America through tough and dangerous times?

is it senator barack obama, or Senator John mccain?

Peggy Noonan:

The overarching political question: In a time of heightened anxiety, will people inevitably lean toward the older congressional vet, the guy who's been around forever? Why take a chance on the new, young man at a time of crisis? Wouldn't that be akin to injecting an unstable element into an unstable environment? There's a lot at stake.

Or will people have the opposite reaction? I've had it, the system has been allowed to corrode and collapse under seven years of Republican stewardship. Throw the bums out. We need change. Obama may not be experienced, but that may help him cut through. He's not compromised.

The election, still close, still unknowable, may well hinge on whether people conclude A or B.

A mere hunch in a passing moment: In a time of crisis, confusion and fear, Americans just might, in their practicality, turn back to the old tradition of divided government. They know the Congress will be Democratic. They assume it will soon be more Democratic. Therefore the president they choose may well be of the other party.

"We've made much racial progress in this country. Any candidate who employs the tactics of the old segregationists is unworthy of the presidency."

Quote of the day, re the latest obama ad.

The Most Dishonest ad in this political campaign?

this race-baiting ad from Barack Obama.

I say it's way much worse than mccains kindergarten sex ed ad.

What do you think?

I think it's the audacity of stupidity, chicago style.

UPDATE: maybe it's a clever ad by obama after all. to bait mccain.

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Sarah Palin

it's interesting how these two responded when their privacy was breached. the first one HAD NO INTEREST in finding out who were responsible for eavesdropping on her conversation with comelec chairman garci, HAD NO INTEREST in going after those responsible for it (ISAFP). kinda odd since siya ang biktima ng wiretapping.

OTOH, the second one wants a full investigation on the email hacking, with the help of the secret service and FBI.

Okay, let's end this thing na...

will the real hackers of sarah palin's email account please step forward and surrender himself to the authorities?

UPDATE: Who's gonna win? the United States Secret Service vs the Anonymous Hackers?

Will Nick Denton of Gawker go to jail?

for publishing Sarah Palin's illegally obtained private emails, information and pictures?

Maybe the reason why McCain doesn't use email?

sarah palin's email account hacked.

UDPATE: if they can do this to a VP candidate, they can do this to anybody. a national security issue?

UDPATE: Andrew Sullivan calls this "vetting."

UPDATE: When vetting a candidate becomes a federal offense.

McCain on FANNIE MAE in 2005

(instapundit) As with the Surge, he was right. Difference is, he was listened to on the Surge.

McCain deserves credit for being on the right side of this. Meanwhile, Obama in just four years in the Senate raked more contributions from Fannie and Freddie than any other Senator in the last 19 years — save Dodd, who's pretty demonstrably in the pocket of Big Mortgage. McCain should pummel Obama with this. He's right on Fannie/Freddie where Obama has done nothing but take their money look the other way.

UPDATE: David Frum: "On the surge and the mortgage crisis, John McCain was both prescient and brave, while Barack Obama was opportunistic and wrong."

How Washington Failed To Rein In FANNIE & FREDDIE

(from instapundit) Basically, it was bought off. "Blessed with the advantages of a government agency and a private company at the same time, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac used their windfall profits to co-opt the politicians who were supposed to control them. . . . Fannie Mae, and to a lesser extent Freddie Mac, became enmeshed in the fabric of political Washington. They were places former government officials went to get wealthy -- and to wait for new federal appointments. At Fannie Mae, chief executives had clauses written into their contracts spelling out the severance benefits they would receive if they left for a government post. The companies also donated generously to the campaigns of favored politicians."

Plus this:

And when they couldn't massage, they intimidated. In 2003, Richard H. Baker (R-La.), chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee with oversight over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, got information from OFHEO on the salaries paid to executives at both companies. Fannie Mae threatened to sue Baker if he released it, he recalled. Fearing the expense of a court battle, he kept the data secret for a year. Baker, who left office in February, said he had never received a comparable threat from another company in 21 years in Congress. "The political arrogance exhibited in their heyday, there has never been before or since a private entity that exerted that kind of political power," he said.

As rocks start being turned over, we'll hear more stories like this or I miss my guess.

UPDATE: Reader C.J. Burch writes: "I'm looking at the article. Does it mention which politicos took the cash?" That rock won't be turned over until after the election, if they have anything to say about it. But here's a place to start. Also here. Plus, the ubiquity of Jamie Gorelick, who seems to be on the scene for many Washington debacles.

ANOTHER UPDATE: A deafening silence from Obama. (Bumped).

Obama stoking racism in new attack ads vs McCain

(via drudge)

Obama Invokes Rush Limbaugh in New Spanish-Language Ad...

ABCNEWS: Ad Es Erróneo...

Limbaugh Lashes Back: Obama 'Stoking Racism'...

you know barack, the real racism and anti-americanism can be found among the friends and associates you hang out with back in your chicago days.

UPDATE: I wonder if the media will call obama too with the same intensity on this deceptive and dispicable ad.

Frankly, I think Obama, the man of hope and change, is playing a dangerous game here.

Now is not the time to raise taxes on "the rich"

Obama wants to give "tax cuts" on 95% of the public. But how can Obama do that when 40% of American families don't pay income taxes? How can families who don't pay any income taxes get a "tax cut"? Unless what obama means is 95% of americans will get a stimulus check, whether they pay income taxes or not. parang income redistribution ito. Obama plans to raise higher taxes on the rich to pay for these "tax cuts".

But the US is in a financial crisis right now. Is it really a good idea to increase taxes on the "wealthy 5%"--people who run companies, corporations, even small businesses, and entrepreneurs? Aren't these people the ones who create and provide jobs for americans? And obama wants to engage in class warfare by taxing the rich during hard times, and distributing the money to the rest of the public? I think obama's tax increase will make the financial crisis worse.

To make it scarier, Obama plans new BIG spending programs like comprehensive Healthcare, which the US can't afford right now.

At least with McCain, all taxes will remain low. and wasteful spending will be reduced.

Good advice to the GOP

"[I]f I were the GOP I'd put together an ad featuring Biden's credit-card connections, Dodd's sweetheart mortgage scandal, and Rangel's ongoing problems and run it all over."

John McCain can use his thumbs!

he knows how to use a blackberry.

Pontius Pilate was the guy that voted: "Present"

that's all i'm going to say.

ABCNews edited out key parts of Sarah Palin's interview

transcript here. edited parts in bold. ABCnews sure did try to make her sound like an insane warmonger, no?

Fannie Mae: The Democratic Enron?

what do you think dick morris? link.

How the media can tilt the VP debates in favor of Biden

by asking questions heavily weighted on foreign policy--60 to 70 percent--foreign policy being joe biden's strength and sarah palin's weakness.

what questions will help palin? questions about reform, governance, domestic policy, energy independence.

What is the "Bush Doctrine"?

Sarah Palin doesn't seem to know. Moose in the headlights moment?



UPDATE: The McCain camp i'm sure has prepped her on the current events issues like Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Georgia, North Korea and even the difference between Sunni and Shiite.

But they have overlooked the simplest things like the "bush doctrine", whose last big mention was in 2006, when the pundits have declared it dead.

UPDATE: there are two ways to interpret the "bush doctrine"

1) use military force to spread democracy (freedom is on the march)
2) or, pre-emptive strike against an enemy.

Excerpts of Sarah Palin's first interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson (video)

part 1



Comment: She doesn't know what the "Bush Doctrine" is. She prepared for current topics like Georgia, Iran, difference between Sunni and Shiite, but not this, heh heh...

part 2

Yay! Andrew Sullivan's Blogging Again, but...

still no blog posts re McCain, Palin, Obama or Biden so far. So is Andrew still in protest mode?

andrew, the honorable solution for your predicament is simple. resign. regain your independence.

by staying in the atlantic, you're basically stealing their money.

UPDATE: He's blogging about McCain and Palin again.

(UPDATE) Maybe Andrew Sullivan WANTS to be fired? Why not RESIGN instead?

just a thought.

previous: Andrew Sullivan's silent protest vs The Atlantic.

UPDATE: If andrew sullivan really values his independence and thinks he is right about the palin smears--HE SHOULD RESIGN. Don't be a pussy and play this passive-aggressive shit to force the Atlantic owners to fire your ass.

it's really about money. if andrew resigns, he doesn't get paid. if the atlantic fires him, they are still obligated to pay him the remainder of his contract.

this is the same shit pulled by mike d'antoni of the phoenix suns. INITIALLY, he WANTED the owners to fire him, which means he still gets his money, but once he signs with New York, the bastard gets paid twice--by PHX and New York--in the millions.

so if you have the cojones andrew, resign and move back to your old site.

MSNBC's demotes Olberman/Matthews; Andrew Sullivan gets warning from The Atlantic

These are not good times for the pro-Obama media people.

Andrew Sullivan's castrated silent protest?

seems that the Atlantic higher ups has reprimanded him because of his rumor spreading re the Palins.

And he responded by not posting anything on his blog for the last two days. (via Kaus)

"Pig with Lipstick" and "Old Fish"

Sarah Palin and John McCain?

McCain afraid to campaign without Palin?

from Kaus:

Is McCain scared of campaigning without Palin? If they "split off," as candidates usually do, the crowds will go with Palin, no? McCain will be left looking unexciting.

but he has no choice. palin is returning to alaska. Maybe a nice excuse for mccain to save face?

Gallup: McCain opens 15-pt lead among independents

52% - 37%.

Dem oppo research team invade Alaska

From the WSJ: Democrats have airdropped 30 lawyers, researchers, investigators into Anchorage.

Palin pick signals Iraq not a big issue anymore

the surge is having a huge success in iraq and the iraqi and US gov'ts are talking about timetables for withdrawal.

that takes the iraq issue off the table for mccain and obama. no more talk of 100 years of war in iraq (this hurts mccain). and the fear that obama might screw up the progress we are seeing in iraq by prematurely pulling the troops out regardless of consequences is also diminished by the iraqi government's confidence in it's ability to govern the country and provide security for it's people that it is now openly talking of US troop withdrawal.

the issues now that will dominate in this election are the economy and gas prices (energy independence).

that's why mccain doubled down on being an outsider/reformer in his own party by picking sarah palin.

"MSNBC is behaving like a heroin addict."

from the New York Times article, on the internal dissent within MSNBC since Keith Olbermann's takeover.

Sarah Palin: President of Alaska

From Charlie Martin:

the New York Times says the job of governor of Alaska is one of the harder, and more powerful, jobs in state government.

but will the voters buy her qualifications?

If Obama wins, Hillary will divorce Bill

(cuz there's no point in staying and pretending.)

If McCain wins, it's Hillary-Bill Clinton vs. Palin-Jindal in 2012.

Bill O'Reilly should give Biden, Palin the Hillary treatment

ah... the VPees Joe Biden and Sarah Palin needs to do the The Factor interview. would be interesting.

Questions Charlie Gibson should ask Sarah Palin

Governor Palin will do a 2-day interview with ABCNEWS' Charlie Gibson with no topics off limits. Here are some questions he should ask Palin:

1) Are you qualified enough to take over as president in the event John McCain dies or is incapacitated?

2) Can you be a good mother with 5 kids (one with Down syndrome and the other one pregnant) and be Vice President at the same time?

3) Troopergate

4) Russia's invasion of Georgia

5) Iran.

6) Economy.

7) Energy Independence and Gas prices.

8) Creationism.

9) Your husband's early affiliation to the Alaskan Independence Party.

10) Earmarks: Were you for it before you were against it?

11) ...

GMA appoints Chavit Singon to deputy National Security Advisor position

wow! what a great political move for maam! the self-confessed murderer and jueteng lord becomes our deputy NSA guy.

Sarah Palin's "300"

Governor Palin assembles her foreign Policy team.

IF McCain-Palin wins in 2008

it will be Palin-Jindal in 2012.

How to take the wind off Sarah Palin's Sails (for Obama supporters only)

young Obama fans, you must seduce Levi Johnston and get him to dump still-pregnant Bristol! This news will hurt the McCain/Palin campaign.

Mickey Kaus to Media: Forget Palin

Tomorrow's Marching Orders Today: If there were some sort of tacit liberal MSM conspiracy--a hypothetical!--Plan 1 was to knock Palin off the ticket out of the box with various unvetted home state scandals. Plan 2, the plan currently in place, is to force Palin to submit to "real interviews" where she will supposedly reveal her embarrassing unpreparedness for the office.

May I suggest to my fellow conspirators that we move directly on to Plan 3: Forget Palin. Stop writing about her. If we make the election about Palin, we will lose. She'll probably win her debate and will almost certainly handle the interviews well enough (to the satisfaction of the voters, at least, if not the experts). The election's not about Palin. It's about McCain. We can beat McCain.

Link.

Sorry Mickey, but the media will not ignore Sarah Palin. Because she, like Obama, will sell newspapers and magazines. The media will make money whether they write glowing pieces about her, or print the scandalous stuff about her white trash fam.

Obama and Palin have become two of the most fascinating figures in this year's presidential race. She's interesting. She's new. And you never know when she'll make a fool of herself in front of a townhall meeting or a gotcha interview, or wow the crowds with her charisma and political skill/oratory.

I'm sure most reporters would rather be assigned to cover Palin than old man McCain.

How should Biden deal with Palin during the debates

It's an idea proposed by Ross Douthat and Mickey Kaus, which should be ideal for Joe Biden's attack dog role--don't focus your enemy fire on Sarah Palin. Forget Sarah Palin. Attack John McCain. Attack him for his reckless decision-making (ie the Palin pick). Retaliate only if attacked by Palin.

After Jake, Ninez

After Malaya Publisher Jake Macasaet got arrested yesterday because of 9-year old libel case, now it's the Tribune's Ninez Cacho Olivares' turn to suffer a setback on her own libel case.

How Sarah Palin can overcome the experience deficit

by inviting 300 Foreign Policy experts to their campaign. Like the inexperienced Obama.

If the media gave Obama the same aggressive scrutiny as Palin at the beginning

Hillary would be the dem nominee by now. I think I have learned more about Sarah Palin in the last 5 days, than barack obama in the last 17 months of the campaign.

Yeah, but Hillary Clinton has her own baggage, you say! True, but for most americans, it's old news already. The reason why Hillary was leading in the polls nationally by as much as 30+ percentage points against Obama and Edwards late last year and early this year was because:

1) nobody took obama and edwards seriously, especially obama among african americans where clinton actually got more support from them.

2) they thought she was the most qualified and credible CIC candidate in the field and therefore had the best chance of winning.

3) they know about the Clinton scandals, but these were already "factored in" in their decision making process.

Fortunately for Obama though, the media is in the tank for him. Fortunately for him, the dem primary voters weren't looking for the most experienced, qualified and accomplished candidate for the party. They were looking for somebody with the best chance of winning.

Piper Palin fixes the baby's hair with spit (video)

Gee, where do you think the daughter learned the technique from?



UPDATE: Maybe from Paul Wolfowitz.

David Axelrod or Karl Rove for President?

they have experience in running a campaign, yes?

I keep hearing that Obama has executive experience qualifying him to run for the presidency in that he has run a campaign for the presidency. Does that mean Axelrod -- and Rove -- could run for President? I mean, isn't Axelrod really the brain behind it all?

Will McCain make some adjustments on his speech?

now that the sneaky little Obama has belatedly admitted that the surge has worked in iraq on FOX's Bill O'Reilly, two hours before McCain's big acceptance speech at the convention?

Obama administration might pursue criminal charges against Bush administration

Yes! Accountability.

Jake Macasaet arrested over libel

The Publisher of Malaya is arrested. They'll claim they have nothing to do with this, but another one of Arroyo's critics bites the dust.

UDPATE: Malaya publisher arrested over libel case sleeping for 9 years

First, they went after Ninez. Now, it's jake's turn.

C'mon Eagleton meme-pushers, which Republican is crazy enough to want the role of Sargent Shriver?

if sarah palin is pressured to do an eagleton, but nobody in the repub party is willing to be the replacement VP, isn't that more embarassing to john mccain?

McCain is stuck with Palin, for better or worse.

Tigh/Roslin 2008

Why fly in Levi Johnston to the Republican Convention?

Jeralyn Merritt is upset about the parading of Levi and Briston to the public and is finally lifting the discussion ban on the Palin family. You go girl!

I think the McCain campaign should cancel this Levi Johnston appearance to stop Jeralyn and the media from using this as an additional excuse to personally trash the remaining Palin family members.

Remember when the media used the forced disclosure of the daughter's pregnancy as a go-ahead signal to declare open season on the Palins?

A Palin Scandal a day

I don't know how long she will be able to last this nonsense.

UPDATE: Maybe Mccain will have to address this again during his prime time speech. Family members are off limits! Especially children.

Obama will finally appear on FOX

with Bill O'Reilly. on Thursday night.

UPDATE: Howard Kurtz: Obama met with FOXNEWS execs

Wouldn't it be cool if McCain wears an eyepatch?

and starts swearing like a sailor Frak Frak Frack!

If Sarah Palin does an Eagleton

who's willing to step up and be her replacement? Who will sacrifice their future political career for McCain after Palin disastrously drops out?

Might as well stick with her, Sen. McCain. Who knows, if she can deliver speeches well with a telemprompter, she might still help.

UPDATED: Obama's biggest accomplishment (so far)

is to run a successful presidential campaign. Ann Althouse responding to Jeralyn Merritt:

Jeralyn Merritt: As I'm typing this, Obama is being interviewed by Anderson Cooper about Gustav. Anderson's last question was how he would answer those who say that Gov. Palin, as mayor of a small town and Gov. of Alaska, has more experience than he does. He didn't miss a beat. He smiled and said Palin's town of Wasilia, Alaska had 50 employees. His campaign has 2500. The town's budget is about $12 million a year. His budget is 3 times that per month. He cited the legislation he's passed on emergency management post-Katrina and that many recommendations he made were adopted and are being put in place as we speak.

Ann Althouse: It's true that Obama's biggest accomplishment is his success (thus far) in running a Presidential campaign. But isn't this a bit absurd? One qualifies to run for President by the very activity of running for President? I'm glad to hear that he smiled when he said that, because I don't think it's an argument you can make with a straight face.

And Kev said:

If I follow Merritt's argument, I deserve that CEO job I applied for last week because I used a really neat font on my resume and made sure the envelope had a stamp on it.

UPDATE: Bob Owens makes an excellent point:

"We now know far more about Sarah Palin in just four days than we've learned about Barack Obama in 17 months. That is just sad. It's a pathetic reflection of the mainstream media's unwillingness to do their jobs for fear of finding stories that would hurt the candidate so many of them openly desire to win. But periodically appearing to read teleprompters isn't vetting, not matter how many months a candidate has done it, and Obama's ability to perform in set-piece debates is both dubious—Hillary once famously took him apart—and irrelevant. Barack Obama really has never been fully vetted. He hasn't even come close."

UPDATE: Sarah Palin and Barack Obama are alike. Both are underqualified for the jobs they seek.

Yes, Barack beat a host of more qualified and more accomplished dems in the primary--BUT the left wingers in the dem primary weren't necessarily looking for a candidate with the most qualifications or experience. They were looking for somebody with the best chance of winning. Barack did not run on his thin resume or measly accomplishments, he ran on the slogan of CHANGE.

He presented himself as the uber CHANGE-agent.

But the democratic primaries are different from the general election. In a dem primary, you run to the Left. In the general, you pivot to the center to attract more independents.

In the general, you can't be too leftwing. and you need to show that you have the necessary experience, judgment and qualifications to attract the moderates.

That's why Obama couldn't pull ahead of McCain in the daily tracking poll, because of people's concerns about Obama's readiness to lead and his lack of experience.

But McCain has undercut his on case vs Obama by selecting Palin.

So what should she do? Like Obama who passed the Dem Primaries with flying colors, she too will have to perform well from now till november to sway the voters to her side.

Obama's biggest accomplishment so far is to run a successful presidential campaign. Her goal is like Obama's, to sell herself to the public as a credible candidate during the remaining days of the campaign, and she needs to overcome the experience handicap like obama.

If she succeeds, they will have a chance of winning. If she fails, EPIC FAIL! Landslide victory for Obama.

At least the Republicans got the order of their ticket right. The top of the ticket is the more experienced and ready candidate. the bottom part of the ticket is the younger person and future star of the party.

Sa democrats, baliktad. The top of the ticket has no experience, and the bottom half is a "dick cheney type" guy picked for experience and to lend gravitas to Obama.

UPDATE: Obama vs. Palin: “Are You Experienced?”

It's Open Season on the Palin Family

I guess after the Palin family were forced to respond to the vicious personal smears being pushed by Daily Kos and Andrew Sullivan by issuing a statement about their 17-yr old daughter's pregnancy, the media took this as a go-ahead signal to dig more dirt on the family's private affairs--using the logic that the Palin family were the ones that made the issue public in the first place.

UPDATE: The inside story from Byron York.

Why I hate the Sarah Palin pick, Part II

because you can't beat the Democrats at their game by appointing an inexperienced and underqualified first-term woman governor as VP candidate as a counter against a black presidential candidate (and first-term Senator) who is also underqualified and inexperienced.

if democrats really cared about qualifications, experience and achievements after railing against bush for 8 years, they would have picked somebody other than Obama in the primaries. Nah, they just wanted the guy with the best chance of winning, and that's Obama.

(The Biden pick is an indirect acknowledgement from their part that Obama lacks experience and gravitas to be Commander in Chief.)

Ah, what the heck! If Palin can give good speeches with a teleprompter like barack, and "inspire" people, maybe she can help McCain.

The community organizer vs. the mayor.

The freshman senator vs. the first-term Governor.

Both underqualified.

Kaya ba nilang tapatan si Vladimir Putin?

Who is ArcXIX?

From Agents of Goldstein:

“For those unfamiliar with ArcXIX, don’t feel bad. His last post on Daily Kos was about gay cowboy wizards, and that was all the way back in December, 2005. In other words, ArcXIX smells like a shill identity. In just 48 hours, ArcXIX turned up countless old photos of the Palin family and even Bristol’s school records. In other words, this is not the work of an occasional blogger, but that of a serious opposition research team meant to make sure Gov. Palin’s political life is nasty, brutish, and short.”

Wouldn't it be interesting to know the identity of ArcXIX?

here's his diary in cached version, before it was "deleted" by Kos. Screen Cap here.

UPDATE: A RedStater gathers clues on ArcXIX's identity.

Please don't do anything illegal when trying to determine the identity of this rat. But I would like to find out if this Kos diarist is connected to the Obama campaign.

How the media covers scandals

If the scandal is true and it involves a democrat like John Edwards, cover it up.

If the scandal is true and it involves a Republican, report it.

If the scandal is fake and it involves a democrat, be aggressive in debunking the rumor and going after the people "responsible" for it, eg Obama rumors. I thought this was effective. CNN playing a proactive role against it's rival.

If the scandal is not true and it involves a republican, let the candidate fend for themselves and die by a thousand cuts thru the nasty online whisper campaign.

Limp response from McCain campaign in debunking fake pregnancy rumors

This is just weak. When the pro-Obama guys in the mainstream media like Andrew Sullivan and liberal bloggers are hammering the Sarah Palin for faking her pregnancy with Trig, all the McCain-Palin came up with was this statement that Palin's 17-yr old daughter Bristol is 5-months pregnant, which pretty much destroys the rumor, but makes the Palin family look like white trash, trailer park types. lol.

Now black commentators from the Obama camp are criticizing Sarah Palin for putting their daughter under the media spotlight. I don't know if Eugene Robinson is just playing dense, but I find his charge totally offensive.

UPDATE: John Edwards was cheating on his cancer-stricken wife, but he decided to run in 2008 anyway, even though the risk that his infidelity would be exposed was real.

But the media covered up for him then.