Osama Fears Obama

 
A few weeks ago a left-leaning compadre from high school, in his paranoia-induced state regarding the (then) close race, decreed how incredibly damaging it would be to the Obama/Biden campaign if Osama bin Laden put out a new video (as he did close to the '04 election), endorsing the Democratic ticket.
"Impossible," I said.
"Think about it. Al Qaeda throws its support behind Obama calling him something like 'one of our Muslim brothers,' and the voters go crazy with fear, flocking to McCain/Palin."
"That would be..."
"Diabolical?"

And so we left it there, me trying not to think of the un-thinkable; my friend, after all, had a good point. Fast forward to October 22nd, to-day. I scour the Internets for various information and diversion from my daily duties, and come upon this doozy of a story via Associated Press. Turns out my friend was sort of on the right track. Sort of.

If this isn't an endorsement worthy of effectively killing an already flawed and severely wounded campaign, then I am Marshall Applewhite and I'm taking off for the high heavens with my Nike-clad brothers and sistahs (don't ask why Heaven's Gate came to mind while trying to construct this lousy metaphor, it's just what comes out when I open that little iron trapdoor in my cerebellum).

Note how Mark Salter, a senior McCain adviser, acknowledged he had heard about the Web site chatter but had no immediate comment. I imagine that right about now McCain/Palin staffers are dumping all their possessions into cardboard boxes and booking their flights home.

And so we cross another weird hurdle in this savage race. Obama gets endorsed by Colin Powell on Sunday, while McCain grabs the blessing of Al-Qaeda.

Clue Me In: Obama Charges For Election Night Coverage

I really don't know what to make of this report from the Chicago Sun-Time's Lynn Sweet, stating that Obama is planning on charging news outlets just under $1000 for the ability to cover their campaign on election night.

It's a bit of a non-starter of an issue for me...One would hope a news organization would have that kind of money for just these purposes, and really the only people affected by this is the media. The Obama camp claims that they will not be turning a profit on this...

I suppose an argument could be made that this sets a "dangerous precedent," that this could reflect a future unwillingness to cooperate with the media on future stories, but I'm not buying that. Especially from a reporter.

So, clue me in here. Is this a big deal?

Palin's Corruption - A Gift That Keeps On Giving

The woman just has no scruples at all. This article just popped up:

AP INVESTIGATION: Alaska funded Palin kids' travel

Seems that Palin liked to take her kids with her when she was traveling on business for the state. Hey, any working mom or dad can understand wanting to do that. But I would guess that most of them don't send a bill to their employer for their kids' airfare and hotels.

She later ammended expense reports to say that the kids were there on official business.

Awesome to know you can do that. After my daughter is born I'll call her my secretary and charge my boss for a full-time salary

This is a woman who claims she's going to "clean up Washington?"

Riiiight....

FAIR's Top Ten (this one goes to eleven)

FAIR released a Media Advisory yesterday titled "Top Troubling Tropes of Campaign '08." Were they not such elite liberal media snobs, they could easily have opted for the more crass, less alliterative, equally accurate "Bullshit Narratives '08." It's an excellent rundown, in FAIR's typically thorough style, of the dominant and disingenuous strands of spin the corporate-owned media is weaving.

I have some favorites. Skip right past #1, John McCain as Maverick, and you arrive at Obama as Elitist. This has been one of the most puzzling to me. Apparently, because McCain, born into Naval royalty and currently living in seven houses purchased with the money Joe SixPack dumps into his wife's purse, is kind of an asshole, and Obama, who was raised by a single (mostly) mother and worked as a community organizer, is both eloquent and humble, McCain "gets us" and Obama is "out of touch."

Hey, America, just because McCain reminds you of your skirt-chasin', gamblin', angry buddies doesn't mean he gives a shit about or understands you. Did you learn nothing from wanting to have a beer with W?

I'm also quite fond of #5, Shifting to the Right is "Good Politics." I actually, unfairly, blame the Green Party for the continuing existence of this trope. Because they insist on trying to be relevant in the national elections, something they were given premature access to with Nadar's two reasonable showings in how many tries, they essentially chop off the most progressive end of the Democratic Party. Tactically, if Obama isn't going to get McKinney supporters votes, it could be justified to say the smart move is a slight Right shift, hoping to capture more at the Center to compensate for what is lost on the Left. Still bullshit, but reasonable or at least arguable given the tenor of the discourse.

(And, listen before I get a bunch of flak from angry Greenies, my personal political views align more closely with the Green Party than the Democrats. Yes, I believe we need multi-party national elections, absolutely. I just don't think the Greens are there yet. The last 16 years have polarized the political landscape, and there is too much at stake in any given national election - I don't have time for the preciousness of your ideals, not in this climate. Stop going on AirAmerica and taking shots at Obama - you'll be gladly welcomed back after the election and encouraged to push him hard for the Progressive agenda. For now, push for run-off voting, get more state and local officials elected, demand media access for your candidates. When the Green Party is strong enough to take a seat at the national table, instead of shrill squeaks resplendent with "should" that amount to a request, please, for perhaps a seat, then and only then will it be time.)

Ooh, and #9, False Balance, is one to keep an especial eye out for these last two weeks. As McCain/Palin continues to flail and blunder, mounting ever more desperate and dubious attacks, the corporate media will continue to try and level the field. They, remember, have the most to gain from a down-to-the-wire horse race.

And, besides, should the seventh seal be broken and McCain actually wins, they don't want to get thrown off the plane.

Stuff!

 
I miss George Carlin. No, this isn't a brain short-circuit moment---I do have plenty of those---but I'm going somewhere with this. You'll see.

Yesterday on Capitol Hill, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, told lawmakers that the “risk of a protracted slowdown” merited the introduction of new measures to help individual Americans gain access to credit. In Joe-the-Plumberspeak, basically Bernanke is thinking heavily of sending out another round of "stimulus checks." ("Cheques" for our Canadian readers). Mr. Bernanke, however, did not specify the size or scope of any plan.

From the effects of last spring's actions, I can safely say that, while I greatly appreciate "free money" from the soon-to-be Marxist/Communist/European Socialist government, I am extremely leery and pessimistic that this second round of band-aids will jump start the frozen credit market. Never mind Wall Street yesterday; the Fatcats-That-Be who control that whole racket are such knee-jerk reactionaries, they make Appollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens feel like a smoove, groovy ride in an El Dorado (does anyone drive Caddys anymore?).

A non-scientific, personal survey of (Joe Sixpack) friends and family who reveled in their newly-received cash infusion last May, indicated that none of the recipients actually paid down their debts or mortgage principal, but instead...bought more stuff. This went against widely-reported, disappointing results. The Treasury Department indicated that no positive movement had been seen in the economy as a result of the stimulus package because most people used the money (unwisely!) to pay for gas and food. But not the people I know. They did their patriotic bit. They got their flat screens, Wii or Playstation game systems, clothes, Ipods, Iphones. Stuff! This is exactly what the current administration banked on in its attempt to prevent the total economic collapse of the last couple of weeks: send the constituency money so it can trickle down the booty, thus resuscitating the retail sector. Some did that. But not enough. You see the Carlin tie-in now? Fine, here it is.

Yes, yes y'all; The Great American Way: when in trouble, spend more on Chinese-made shit and fuggetabout it. Everything is beautiful. And so, round 2: ding, ding.

The outgoing, lame-duck administration is under the gun to do more to help the economy. The Treasury Department, meanwhile, hopes to spur a new round of mergers among banks by steering some of the money in its $250 billion rescue package to banks that are willing to buy weaker rivals, according to government officials.

From the New York Times: While these efforts may provide some relief, the concern is that it may take time before they have a major impact on the economy. Loans are likely to remain scarce for many small businesses and consumers.

Credit is unlikely to flow freely soon, said Max Bublitz, chief strategist at SCM Advisors, an investment firm in San Francisco. “It’s going to be doled out in small pieces over the next few months,” he said.

Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in mid-September, the credit markets entered a state of near paralysis, keeping many businesses and municipalities from obtaining financing.

For now, market watchers can celebrate that credit is being given out at all. Interest rates on common types of commercial paper — basically short-term I.O.U.s issued by businesses — fell to a four-month low. Joy!

But until we all get back on track, hell, I'll take another few hundred if they're doling it out. I am one hundred percent committed to do my bit for this country. There's a killer Macbook Pro I've had my eyes on for a year now. The hell with my fiscal responsibilities. Bring it, Ben!

Death Spiral

After McCain's appearance on David Letterman last Thursday, it seemed inevitable that his campaign would let up with the nonsense, and while still raising some sort of ruckus, build up the goodwill and consistency to make it a close race by the turn of November.

The inevitable didn't happen. Since Thursday, the McCain campaign and their contemporaries in the Conservative movement revealed that they were willing to wallow in the gutter in its attempt to win at any cost.

Starting with the increasingly appalling robo-calls on Thursday, detouring through Palin's and Rep. Michelle Bachman's commie-baiting assertion that there were "anti-American" forces in the US - spearheaded by Obama, McCain's ranting that Obama is a closet socialist, ending with the stunned Conservative reaction to Ret. Gen. Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama, the Right continued to exhibit its necrotic approach to politics.

If there were two videos from the weekend that should be seen by all, it'd be Powell's endorsement, and Pat Buchanan's reaction to that endorsement (sorry, Palin on SNL, though entertaining and sharp, was nowhere near the chart).

Powell's endorsement is compelling in its considered honesty. Here's a maverick for you. If and when the Conservatives ever stop complaining about it, they may do well by themselves to sit and wonder why someone they once held in high esteem would turn on their movement. The man let himself be used by the extreme factions of their cause, and it cost him his dignity and stature as a military leader. It may be that he was trying to buy back some of that by being truthful and speaking his mind.

As Keith Olbermann points out in the clip embedded below (last night's special comment on the Divisive Tactics of the Right), it was Buchanan, ABC's George Will and Rush Limbaugh who most prominently suggested that Powell's endorsement had less to do with political reasoning and more to do the color of his skin.

What does the same party that jumped at the chance to accuse Obama of playing the race card when he mentions that they were going to prey on fears the he didn't look like someone on a dollar bill do when faced with an honest and heartfelt critique of its status? They play the race card, and kill the messenger by calling him shallow, disloyal and opportunistic. (It is karmically fitting to have Pat "Culture War Instigator" Buchanan be the recipient of Joan Walsh's Catholic sympathy and Chris Matthews' softened parrying.)

The hit parade doesn't end there. After spending weeks making insinuations about Obama, ACORN and voter registration fraud, today it was revealed that the McCain campaign knowingly hired a man proven guilty of same in the past to the tune of $175k. This could only be topped off with a threat from a McCain party spokesperson going on record as reconsidering their Rev. Wright approach.

It is hard to resist making assessments that we're witnessing the last desperate, ugly gasps of a political movement; though you have to admit that there's a certain Pompeii flavor to these proceedings. The Grand Old Party has proven nothing if not resilient, however, and there's still fourteen days until the election.

Watch: Olbermann's Special Comment On Republican's Divisive Tactics

Republicans As Keystone Kops

In the middle of writing an entry on the hypocrisy on display this weekend, when a friend sent this Washington Monthly blogpost to me, pointing out the ludicrous nature of the Republican campaign at the moment. The post then points you to this item on Media Matters, in which conservative radio host Bob Grant is quoted as follows:

But really folks, did you notice Obama is not content with just having several American flags, plain old American flags with the 50 states represented by 50 stars? He has the "O" flag. And that's what that "O" is. That's what that "O" is. Just like he did with the plane he was using. He had the flag painted over, and the "O" for Obama. Now, these are symptom -- these things are symptomatic of a person who would like to be a potentate -- a dictator. And I really see this in this man.

You're not gonna guess which flag Grant is talking about. Tip of the hat to Smoooochie.