A Spork in the Drawer

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

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That Explains It!

John Sidney McCain is behind because he hasn't appeared on Billo's television or radio shows!

I knew there had to be a reason!

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Sarah Palin, Constitutional Scholar

Oh fer cryin' out loud:

Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

Glenn:

The Constitution also guarantees freedom of association.  Thus, by Palin's "reasoning," when newspapers -- or Palin herself -- criticize Obama for his associations, they're threatening his constitutional rights.

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Stewie Vs Billo

Heh.

[Via Steven D.]

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Over The Line

You know it's pretty bad when even Fred Hiatt's WaPo editorial page calls you out:

For the record, Mr. Khalidi is an American born in New York who graduated from Yale a couple of years after George W. Bush. For much of his long academic career, he taught at the University of Chicago, where he and his wife became friends with Barack and Michelle Obama. In the early 1990s, he worked as an adviser to the Palestinian delegation at peace talks in Madrid and Washington sponsored by the first Bush administration. We don't agree with a lot of what Mr. Khalidi has had to say about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the years, and Mr. Obama has made clear that he doesn't, either. But to compare the professor to neo-Nazis -- or even to Mr. Ayers -- is a vile smear.

[...]

It's fair to question why Mr. Obama felt as comfortable as he apparently did during his Chicago days in the company of men whose views diverge sharply from what the presidential candidate espouses. Our sense is that Mr. Obama is a man of considerable intellectual curiosity who can hear out a smart, if militant, advocate for the Palestinians without compromising his own position. To suggest, as Mr. McCain has, that there is something reprehensible about associating with Mr. Khalidi is itself condemnable -- especially during a campaign in which Arab ancestry has been the subject of insults. To further argue that the Times, which obtained the tape from a source in exchange for a promise not to publicly release it, is trying to hide something is simply ludicrous, as Mr. McCain surely knows.

Whether he wins or loses this much is undeniable: John Sidney McCain has forever destroyed his own reputation.

I hope he spends his remaining time on this mortal coil in a state of self-loathing.

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Those Republicans...

...always classy:

The item noted how GOP state senator Steve Stivers, who is running to replace retiring Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) in the House, was in the state Senate chamber recently when the state champion girls volleyball team of Mercy High School in Cincinnati, there to receive an award, caught his eye.

Someone apparently reminded Stivers he had recently returned from his honeymoon -- to which Stivers, according to the Canton, replied, "I'm allowed to window shop, just not buy."

[...]

"Obviously, it's going to raise red flags whenever you have a politician callously stating, 'I'm allowed to window shop, just not buy,' as Stivers did when referring to high school students that he called 'attractive,'" says Ryan Rudominer, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "That's why President Bush and House Minority Leader John Boehner's golden boy Steve Stivers soliciting votes in sorority houses is more than a bit suspect."

If Stivers is elected let's hope that someone warns the female pages and interns about him.

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Landmines

It should come as no surprise that BushCo™ intends to use the next 80 days to make life difficult for President Obama (should he take office). The WaPo fronts a story about the administration's intent to ease regulations concerning the environment and consumer protection:

Once such rules take effect, they typically can be undone only through a laborious new regulatory proceeding, including lengthy periods of public comment, drafting and mandated reanalysis.

"They want these rules to continue to have an impact long after they leave office," said Matthew Madia, a regulatory expert at OMB Watch, a nonprofit group critical of what it calls the Bush administration's penchant for deregulating in areas where industry wants more freedom. He called the coming deluge "a last-minute assault on the public . . . happening on multiple fronts."

Of course, given the Orwellian world-view of the administration all of these things are being sold as good for the environment and good for consumers:

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said: "This administration has taken extraordinary measures to avoid rushing regulations at the end of the term. And yes, we'd prefer our regulations stand for a very long time -- they're well reasoned and are being considered with the best interests of the nation in mind."

If BushCheney had their way they'd leave the country a smoking wasteland.

And they just might yet.

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Obama & Maddow

Part I:

Part II:

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[stunned silence]

Barack Obama is the illegitimate son of Malcolm X.

And he was born in Seattle. Or possibly Canada.

I'd say they can't get any crazier but you and I know that isn't true.

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To Lighten Things Up

What if John McCain hired famous Hollywood movie directors to create attack ads for him? Let's find out!

First batch, John Woo, Kevin Smith, and Wes Anderson:

Second batch, Diablo Cody & Jason Reitman, David Lynch, and M. Night Shyamalan:





Personally, I like Lynch's effort best but, then, I'm one of those odd ducks who likes his movies.

Really, though, the directors are making fun of themselves.

[Via Lisa Derrick.]

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