Perfunction

Video: Obama Youth Sing, Join Ranks Of Global Peoples Movement

Creepily familiar?

Yes...

Wall Street, Main Street...

What about ME? Where's MY bailout? Jerks.

Morbidly Obese Propagandist: Lack Of Free Healthcare Caused Credit Crisis

Noted economist and walking/eating healthcare timebomb Michael Moore says we're in this mess because the deadbeats who couldn't afford houses (but magically got them) also couldn't afford healthcare:

Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage "crisis" may never have happened.

This bailout's mission is to protect the obscene amount of wealth that has been accumu --- is someone frying baloney??!! {stampedes from room}

(h/t: memeorandum)

US Deploys Troops, Missile Defense Radar To Israel

In a move to defend against the growing Iranian ballistic missile threat, about 120 US troops will be permanently stationed in Israel for the first time to man a new Forward Based X-Band Transportable (FBX-T) radar:

U.S. European Command (EUCOM) has deployed to Israel a high-powered X-band radar and the supporting people and equipment needed for coordinated defense against Iranian missile attack, marking the first permanent U.S. military presence on Israeli soil.

The Raytheon-built FBX-T system is the same phased-array radar that was deployed to northern Japan with the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) in 2006. The high-powered, high-frequency, transportable X-band radar is designed to detect and track ballistic missiles soon after launch.

Its ancillary gear included cooling systems, generators, perimeter defense weaponry, logistics supplies and dozens of technicians, maintenance specialists and security forces to operate and defend the U.S. installation.

Unlike the massive, permanent radar we are planning for the Czech Republic, the FBX-T is a mobile X-band radar that can be deployed to hot spots. The one in Japan would provide tracking/targeting of North Korean launches, while this one would cue intercepts against Iranian missiles.

By deploying this radar and giving Israel increased access to our Defense Support Program (DSP) launch detection satellites, Israel will be able to engage incoming missiles much earlier with its own Arrow II interceptors:

It would let Israel's Arrow II ballistic shield engage an Iranian Shehab-3 missile about halfway through what would be its 11-minute flight to Israel.

With the Shahab-3's blistering flight time, shaving minutes off the engagement time significantly increases both the battle space and data quality for Israel's Arrow interceptors.

Beyond the tactical impact of this deployment, there are greater strategic implications --- it reduces the likelihood of unilateral Israeli airstrikes against Iran:

A U.S. government source said the X-band deployment and other bilateral alliance-bolstering activities send parallel messages: "First, we want to put Iran on notice that we're bolstering our capabilities throughout the region, and especially in Israel. But just as important, we're telling the Israelis, 'Calm down; behave. We're doing all we can to stand by your side and strengthen defenses, because at this time, we don't want you rushing into the military option.'"

UPDATE: Welcome, HotAir and Commentary (thanks, Abe).

For a handy report on the current state of US missile defense, check out this 5 part NPR series from last week.

NPR On Missile Defense: Part 5 -- Political Future

The fifth and final installment (audio here) of National Public Radio's series on US missile defense was a dud. They once again trot out the critics from earlier installments as the cherry on top:

"Today we have a single kill vehicle on each one of our interceptors," [Missile Defense Agency Director] Obering says. "In the future, we will have many kill vehicles on one interceptor, and that will allow us to handle the more complex threats."

Critics of the Missile Defense Agency say the multiple kill vehicle is an admission that today's interceptors are not sophisticated enough to overcome decoys.

"The Missile Defense Agency knows that the current approach cannot be relied upon, and so they're developing this multiple kill vehicle, hoping that that will work," says Philip Coyle, an adviser at the Center for Defense Information. "The concept behind it is — it's sort of like a shotgun. Instead of having a single kill vehicle, you have half a dozen or perhaps more. The problem with the development is that each one needs propulsion systems so that it can turn and steer. All of this takes weight. It's hard to get many of them on the interceptor."

You know what else is "hard," Coyle? Hitting a bullet with a bullet. And we Keep. On. Freaking. Doing. Just. That. Patience, Philip --- these are rocket scientists you're talking about.

As I previously noted, critics like Coyle are simply dishonest:

[T]he critics that in one breath say that our enemies are too inept to even get an ICBM to our shores also say in the very next breath that these same enemies have the technological prowess to cap their primitive rockets with the most advanced countermeasures in the world. It doesn't add up, and vividly illustrates the mendacity of missile defense critics. They'll whack at missile defense with any club available even if their arguments laughably contradict each other.

The big question NPR ends with is "what will happen in the next administration?" Who knows.

In conclusion, it was pretty good series overall, especially for folks unfamiliar with what we in the missile defense field do for a living.

===================

NPR Series & Cuffy's Analysis

• Series Overview
• Part One:  The Threat (my take)
• Part Two:  Ground-Based Defense (my take)
• Part Three:  Sea-Based Defense (my take)
• Part Four: European Bases & Russian Response (my take)
• Part Five: Political Future (my take)

Video: Obama's Flip-Flop On Missile Defense

From the first Presidential Debate in Oxford, Mississippi last night, Barack Obama changes direction on missile defense quicker than an "unproven" defensive interceptor.

But while he flipped in the right direction, is this Change You Can Believe In?

Some are latching on to the word "unproven," i.e. Obama said he would cut only the parts of missile defense that don't work. This is a very generous --- and quite mistaken --- interpretation of Obama's weasel word because it's a part of a robotic phrase that has always rolled off critics' tongues: "unproven-missile-defense-systems."

I purposefully left in the declaration “I will not weaponize space” to clearly demonstrate that when Obama says he’ll cut “unproven-missile-defense-systems” the implication is that he’ll kill the whole program.

Since the earliest days of missile defense, critics have either said:

1. “it’s unproven, it will never work, therefore don’t do it” or
2. “missile defense weaponizes space”

Obama's Iowa video trucks in the cliched language of a doctrinaire critic of missile defense, and he was thisclose to tiredly mocking it as "Star Wars." So, yes, his debate statement was indeed a BIG flip flop.

UPDATE: Thanks, LGF, Gateway Pundit, Jawa Report and memeorandum.

For a good primer on the current status of US missile defense, check out the series NPR ran this week --- 5 parts, start here.

NPR On Missile Defense: Part 4 -- European Bases & Russia's Response

In Part 4 of its series today (audio here), National Public Radio covers the geopolitical impact of our planned ballistic missile defense (BMD) bases in the territories of Warsaw Pact NATO allies, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Already suspicious of the expansion of American influence into all of its former Eastern European satellites --- and even some of its former Soviet republics in Central Asia --- Russia is freaking out:

ABC News' Jake Tapper Beclowns Self

Normally balanced reporter Jake Tapper forgets his School House Rock:

Why Isn't Palin Coming to Washington to Work on the Bailout Bill?

One of these things is not like the other: Senator, Senator, Senator, Governor.

MDA Receives Joint Meritorious Unit Award

Citing its role in the successful shootdown of that toxic spy satellite this past February, the Department of Defense awarded the Missile Defense Agency the Joint Meritorious Unit Award (pdf):

The citation accompanying the award stated that “In an effort to minimize debris hazards in space, aircraft and the populace,” the citation continued, “countless hours of analysis were required to determine the feasibility of engagement and select the optimal location and altitude.” A multitude of military, civilian and contractor personnel, with the MDA, Defense Department, the U.S. Navy and associated industry and academia, came together and within a six week period, planned and executed the Presidential directive to bring down the errant satellite.

All of my firm's engineers and analysts were part of the 24x7 shifts in the government labs during the lead up to the shootdown. A hearty congratulations to them and the warfighters we support.

Chunky Mommy: PETA Urges Ben & Jerry's To Use Human Breast Milk

Well that sure didn't take long:

VERMONT -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

"PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says.

If you missed it, here's the Swiss restaurant story.

(h/t: memeorandum)

NPR On Missile Defense: Part 3 -- Aegis Sea-Based Interceptors

National Public Radio focuses it's attention on the remarkably successful sea-based element of our ballistic missile defense (BMD) today (audio here). The reporter mainly repurposes his previous report from the USS Lake Erie from a few months ago, but it's still pretty good.

Heck, even the naysayers cannot deny the success of the Aegis platform:

Even sharp critics of the Missile Defense Agency, like Philip Coyle of the Center for Defense Information, acknowledge that sea-based missile defenses do show some promise.

"The Navy has had a greater success rate in terms of successes where they've done flight intercept tests," Coyle says. "They've had a greater success rate than the big ground-based system has had."

While Aegis' achievements are notable, the platform's short range makes it unsuitable for most of the trajectory of long-range ICBM's. And you can't exactly drag these things up on shore. But in a hairy situation, a picket of ships near the launch point and likely target(s) could be extremely valuable, and their global maritime mobility is also a big plus. The US currently has over a dozen BMD-certified Aegis cruisers and destroyers at sea, including a notable namesake.

Ground-based interceptors (GBI's) are still required to address the longest, highest part of the threat trajectory, the mid-course phase.

===================

NPR Series & Cuffy's Analysis

• Series Overview
• Part One:  The Threat (my take)
• Part Two:  Ground-Based Defense (my take)
• Part Three:  Sea-Based Defense (my take)
• Part Four: European Bases & Russian Response (my take)
• Part Five: Political Future (my take)

Here are all of my Missile Defense posts.

Creepy Cult Circle Complete

Followers of The One are minting presidential coins in his honor.

Sound familiar?

Next up for Obama --- a majestic zeppelin:

Septuagenarian Saves Wall Street

Obviously, "the question of age is back on the table," as if said table ever got bussed and wiped down in the first place. Meanwhile, some old coot saves the world:

Warren E. Buffett, the country’s most famous investor and one of the world’s richest men, announced on Tuesday that he would invest $5 billion in Goldman Sachs, the embattled Wall Street titan, in a move that could bolster confidence in the financial markets.

...

But Mr. Buffett, 78, has also learned from past mistakes in the financial sector.

McCain is 72.

And also meanwhile, another elderly (yet younger) Senator is one step away from frantically pawing his LifeAlert lanyard because of the menacing squirrels:

I think in the space of about the last 24 hours, Joe Biden claimed that the AIG bailout was bad, but then said it wasn't bad;

that we did not need to burn coal;

that his apology about the dirty McCain ad was, as they say, inoperative;

that FDR once went on television to address the nation after the stock market crash of '29 (that's a twofer that trumps Obama's Americans liberating Auschwitz);

and all but said that McCain took a $50,000 bribe.

Not a bad day's work — encompassing terrible energy policy, flip-flopping, historical ignorance, and slander. And this comes on top of... [ed -- read this rest]

RELATED PHOTOSHOP: Besides claiming that Andrew Jackson twittered his plan to bust up the Bank of the United States, Biden knows a lot about the history of Republican presidents as well.

(h/t: memeorandum)

NPR On Missile Defense: Part 2 -- Ground-Based Interceptors

Yesterday, National Public Radio gave us Part One of its week-long series on US missile defense. Today in Part Two (audio here), they report on two of the most controversial aspects of our ballistic missile defense system (BMDS):

• Ground-Based Interceptors (GBI's), and
• Threat Countermeasures

GBI's are silo-housed interceptors that are designed to intercept ICBM's outside the atmosphere. Like all of our interceptors, GBI's do not have an explosive warhead. Rather, the GBI lofts an Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), a self-maneuvering slug that smashes the ICBM's re-entry vehicle (RV) into a million pieces through brute kinetic force.

Currently deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska (pic above) and Vandenberg AFB, California, GBI's have had a low profile as the sea-based Aegis BMD system has racked up several high profile test intercepts (including that real world toxic spy satellite shootdown).

Indeed, beyond today's NPR report, the most recent news about Ground-Based Interceptors (besides this successful GBI intercept) was this April 2007 ABC profile of the largest GBI base in the world, Fort Greely, Alaska. Terry Moran's Nightline television crew was the first and only to film inside the base:

But GBI's have finally been thrust into the limelight as we start deploying them in Poland ... on the doorstep of a belligerent Russia.

Biden & The Ministry Of Love

After foolishly questioning Obama's recent "McCain Can't Email" ad, Joe Biden underwent crash re-education.

Today he emerges from Room 101 of the Ministry of Love:

"It's like, 'God, I don't want to fall in love again,'" he assessed, continuing with his love-scarred electorate analogy. "'I don't want to fall in love again, because last time I did that, I really got hurt.' I'm telling you. I'm telling you. They love him. They just, they're just holding back because they know they better get it right this time. We better get it right this time."

...

"Everybody loves this guy," Biden said of Obama.

C-R-E-E-P-Y.

Bigoted Media Matters Smears Arab-Americans ...

... by declaring that it's a filthy "smear" to call someone an Arab:

Limbaugh repeats baseless Obama smear: "He's Arab. ... [H]e's not African-American"

Media Matters should be ashamed.

(h/t: memeorandum)

NPR On Missile Defense: Part 1 -- Intro

Today, National Public Radio begins a five part series on what they deem "one of the most important yet least examined issues of the Bush administration."

The series synopsis looks pretty interesting, though the standard cast of critics will make their requisite appearances. I especially like this insightful critique from Part One (audio here) on the ballistic missile threat we face:

[Richard] Garwin testified before a congressional panel earlier this year that the threat of attack with nuclear weapons is real, but not delivered by intercontinental ballistic missiles.

"A state wishing to deliver nuclear weapons to injure the United States homeland would far more likely use short range missiles or cruise missiles launched from a ship to attack U.S. coastal cities with nuclear weapons than use an ICBM for that purpose," Garwin says.

NEWSFLASH, Dick: Our ballistic missile defense system (BMDS) is a layered system that is designed to engage ALL types of ballistic missiles in ALL phases of flight, not just ICBMs.

And the "far more likely" scenario Garwin describes, a short range nuke launched from a ship to attack a coastal city? We just successfully ran that scenario this past June; an Aegis cruiser shot down a Scud launched from a decommissioned amphibious assault ship.

Hopefully the NPR series will dispel much of the ignorance about our BMD system and strategy. Many folks still think we're trying to develop Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative:

• We are NOT attempting to shoot down a thousand-missile swarm of Soviet ICBMs; we ARE shooting at a handful of rogue missiles.
• We are NOT using space-based ray guns, particle cannons, disruptors, lasers, blasters or phasors; we ARE using space-based sensor satellites to detect that handful of rogue missiles.
• We are NOT shooting nukes at nukes; we ARE using sheer kinetic trauma to obliterate a missile with a warhead-free interceptor. Think two refrigerators slamming into each other at 15,000 mph.

It's a different world, a different threat, a different strategy, and a different technology.

Regardless of the knee-jerk criticism you are sure to hear, it sounds like a pretty good radio series this week.

===================

NPR Series & Cuffy's Analysis

• Series Overview
• Part One:  The Threat (my take)
• Part Two:  Ground-Based Defense (my take)
• Part Three:  Sea-Based Defense (my take)
• Part Four: European Bases & Russian Response (my take)
• Part Five: Political Future (my take)

Obama's Astroturfing Corporate Sockpuppets

Did you hear the one about how David Axelrod (Obama's Campaign Manager) has deployed an army of astroturfing corporate sockpuppets? You have now.

Stay tuned.

Most Racist Ad EVER ... No, THIS Is ... Wait, THIS One ...

Last week, Joshua Micah Ezekiel Boutros-Boutros Marshall declared McCain's "Education" the most racist political ad EVAH:

And today McCain comes out with this rancid, race-baiting ad based on another lie. Willie Horton looks mild by comparison. (And remember, President George H.W. Bush never ran the Willie Horton ad himself. It was an outside group. He wasn't willing to degrade himself that far.) ... at least Horton actually was released on a furlough. This is ugly stuff. And this is an ugly person. There's clearly no level of sleaze this guy won't stoop to to win this election.

...

It's easy to get twisted up in your head about strategy and message and optics. But what is already apparent is that John McCain is running the sleaziest, most dishonest and race-baiting campaign of our lifetimes.

Put aside for a moment that McCain's ad is accurate in describing the cutting-edge sex ed courses Obama wanted to teach kindykids. We need to review the notorious Benchmark of All Modern Racist Ads --- Willie Horton.

OUTRAGE: McCain Slights French President!

Or something.

Yawn.

(h/t: all in a lather at memeorandum)

Missile Defense: Good News, Bad News

Good News: Just days after North Korea tested a new longer range ICBM engine, Japan had a successful missile intercept in a test of the US-developed PAC-3 Patriot system:

The Japanese air force shot down the dummy missile using Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptors in a ground-to-air test at White Sands, New Mexico, on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Bad News: The US scrubbed its own THAAD missile intercept test after the target (not the interceptors) malfunctioned:

It was the first breakdown after five successful tests of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD. Four of the successful test had been conducted with launches from the Pacific Missile Range at Barking Sands and one from White Sands, New Mexico.

The Missile Defense Agency said that because of the failure, the two THAAD interceptor missiles that were to take part in the test were not launched. So the full test was never completed.

...

"Because of the target malfunction, the target did not have enough momentum to reach the open ocean area previously approved for safe intercept," she said, adding that the target missile fell into the sea within the safe area.

Oh well, at least we didn't waste a couple of expensive birds...

North Korea Tests ICBM Engine; Could Reach California

Ronery ... and still dangerous:

TOKYO, Sept. 16 -- North Korea has tested the engine mechanism for an intercontinental missile that might be able to hit major cities on the U.S. West Coast, according to an account published Tuesday in the South Korean press.

A previously unknown missile launch site on the west coast of North Korea was identified last week by Jane's Defense Weekly, which cited commercial satellite images. The facility has a mobile launch pad and a 10-story tower that would support the North's largest ballistic missiles, Jane's reported.

An "improved version" of the Taepodong missile might have a range of more than 6,200 miles, the Chosun Ilbo reported, putting Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles within reach. A previous version had a range of about 4,150 miles, which could reach Alaska.

Meanwhile:

UPDATE: Welcome, Protein Wisdom and HotAir.

Video: LA Limousine Liberals Lept For Obama

Last night in Los Angeles, Barack Obama raised $9 million from his modest and penurious grassroots:

After all the Bentleys, Benzes and Rollses got valeted away and Babs phoned it in, Obama took the stage. And he brought the house DOWN, baby:

Buzz. Kill.

Acutely aware of the godawful optics of this ill-timed fundraiser, Obama proceeds to morosely drone about how these Hollywood celebrities should be mindful of the filthy, ragged horde that resides just outside their gates. (full cell phone videos in two parts, here and here)

But addressing the more pressing threat on all their minds, Obama soothes this pampered play-acting plutocracy --- Leap, Peasants!

"And a lot of people have gotten nervous and concerned. Why is this as close as it is? And what's going on? We always knew this was going to be hard, and this is a leap for the American people."

You don't say.

Tales Of The Teleprompter

As liberal Zapruders disect video of Sarah Palin's convention speech, analyzing every jot and tittle for evidence of another Big Lie, word comes that Barack Obama bitterly clings to his blankie:

The Democratic presidential nominee has never tried to hide the fact he delivers speeches off the device, though normally he doesn't use one at standard campaign rallies and town hall events. [ed --- you're shitting me]

But the Illinois senator used a teleprompter at both his Colorado events Monday — making for a particularly peculiar scene in Pueblo, where the prompter was set up in the middle of what is normally a rodeo ring.

We attribute many uncanny campaign surprises to the evil mastermind Karl Rove. It's only a matter of time... (naughty language alert):

Video: Obama Defeats McCain

Earlier today on Good Morning America, a confident Barack Obama claims victory over John McCain:

Thanks to Jim Geraghty for sending me on the hunt for video of Obama's negative ad gaffe.

Palin's "Airport To Nowhere"

The Wall Street Journal's credibility takes a hit today as it reports on Gov. Palin's federal funding requests for Alaska. The problem? The WSJ sloppily declines to identify which of these requests were hypocritical earmarks and which requests were normal legislative appropriations:

Last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, hadn't sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress, presenting her as a fiscal conservative. But state records show Gov. Palin has asked U.S. taxpayers to fund $453 million in specific Alaska projects over the past two years.

Amazingly, the WSJ readily states McCain's position, i.e. there's nothing wrong with funding worthy projects if they are openly debated, authorized and funded via legislation, not shady, buried earmarks:

[McCain] has never sought earmarks for his state of Arizona and vows to veto pork-barrel spending bills that come to his desk as president, saying these projects should go through normal budget review. And he derides the argument that states often make: that they're funding important projects.

"If they're worthy projects they can be authorized and appropriated in a New York minute," he explained on his campaign bus earlier this year, before Gov. Palin joined the ticket. "If they're worthy projects I know they'd be funded."

But then the WSJ throws all of Palin's requests into one universal pork heap, not making any distinction. Again, SLOPPY.

Seeking to reincarnate that infamous poster child of pork, the Bridge to Nowhere, the writer tosses out this jewel as an example of Palin's runaway earmarks/pork/requests/whatever-we're-on-a-roll:

[Palin] also has sought $4.5 million to upgrade an airport on a Bering Sea island that has a year-round population of less than 100.

So where exactly is this mysterious Airport to Nowhere?

According to this document (PDF; thanks, Ed), the Aleutian backwater that needs an airport upgrade is Adak Island. (Example of more WSJ sloppiness: the amount is $3.2 million, not $4.5 million).

OUTRAGE! How dare Palin attempt to pork up some ghost town speck of rock in the Pacific? Airport to Nowhere indeed! There's no good reason for this federal spending.

Or is there?

Adak Island is the new home port of the newest sensor in the US ballistic missile defense (BMD) system, the one-of-a-kind Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX):

 

The SBX has been on station off the coast of Adak since early 2007, and played a key role in tracking/targeting the toxic spy satellite shoot-down this past February. Positioned in the North Pacific, the SBX is ready to detect ICBMs launched from Asia towards the US:

[Missile Defense Agency Director] Obering said this radar is so powerful that if it were located in Chesapeake Bay, it could track an object the size of a baseball over San Francisco.

While stationed off Adak, the SBX's crew of 85 will be frequently transiting through the island's airport. With Adak's harsh weather and usually socked-in conditions, it seems that $3.2 million is a small price to pay for the safe transport of this important crew.

Unless bête noire Palin requested it, of course.

UPDATE: Thanks, Doubleplusundead, AOSHQ, Conservative Grapevine and RedState.

Here's the best refutation of all this Palin earmarking nonsense in three concise words: Governors Cannot Earmark.

UPDATE: For those of you visiting for the milpr0n instead of electionpr0n, for scale, here's the SBX at Pearl Harbor en route to Alaska. Here are some SBX construction photos. It's basically our most advanced radar mounted on a self-propelled oil platform. Each pontoon is the size of a Trident nuclear submarine.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers. Back to the earmark discussion, Glenn makes a good point:

Meanwhile, I was watching Bill Whittle on Pajamas TV talking about this, and he was very strongly making the point that it's a very different thing for a Governor to be accepting earmarks than it is for a Senator to be enacting them. I think that's a valid point as far as it goes, but it has its limits. For example, if I were really lobbying my Senators for $50 million in earmarked funding to build the PorkBusters Museum in Knoxville, people might reasonably question the depth of my commitment to porkbusting, notwithstanding that I'm not a Senator. It's not at all clear that Sarah Palin was doing anything like that, but if she were, it would undercut claims that she's always exhibited an unwavering commitment to fighting earmarks.

As I discuss in the comments, the impetus for this post was the WSJ's craptacular article. According to the writer, ANY federal spending by Palin is now questionable and/or hypocritical ... even federal spending targeted at a recently-federal property (Adak Airport was Adak Naval Air Station until Congress BRAC'd/foisted it on the State of Alaska in 1997) which mainly services a federal military mission and federal employees.

The Wall Street Journal's irresponsible ambiguity has only added more confusion to a topic that liberals were simply not prepared to discuss intelligently. Until Palin appeared in their hypocrisy crosshairs, when was the last time you heard ANY Democrat complain one iota about earmarks? They are fighting on unfamiliar ground and it shows in their half-baked arguments (all federal spending = earmarks).

Obama Political Caricatures: Tread Lightly, Satirists

James Joyner discusses the satirical/racist interpretations of the "Obama Waffles" mix peddled by a couple of political activists:

Attendees at a Family Research Council convention were buying up “Obama Waffles” like hotcakes before organizers decided they contained images that could be deemed racist and suspended sales.

Indeed, the Associated Press wasted no time in passing judgment in its lede:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Activists at a conservative political forum snapped up boxes of waffle mix depicting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a racial stereotype on its front and wearing Arab-like headdress on its top flap.

And it's not the first time that self-styled "satirists" have deliberately reinforced a liberal stereotype of conservatives (racist) ... and by simple conservative association, ME and YOU, dear reader. Thanks, assholes.

This is dangerous territory for conservatives, and I'd strongly advise budding comedic geniuses to tread lightly.

In fairness, Joyner does present a small sampling of the classy caricatures spewed from the Left, including some choice Condi Rice bits. But remember, by definition political correctness is not fair. The exact same tasteless sketch or photoshop created by a liberal takes on an entirely different meaning when issued by a conservative. Accept it and move on.

Wrapping up, Joyner refers to Stacy McCain making an interesting observation regarding plain ol' newspaper editorial cartoons:

Is it possible to caricature a black man without being accused of "racial stereotype"? (Note to editorial cartoonists: If Obama is elected, you'll have to endure four years of this crap.)

Answer: NO.

Investor's Business Daily already yanked Michael Ramirez's cartoon about Obama's "lipstick on a pig" moment. I actually thought this was appropriate satire when I first saw it a few days ago, given Obama's firestorm:

But now, out of its original context --- and placed next to that stupid waffle box --- I understand completely why IBD pulled it.

Given the extreme touchiness of political correctness, satirizing Obama is a tricky tar baby of a problem.

Crap. See?

UPDATE: Well, it appears the waffle guys have a fan, CNN's cranky xenophobe/protectionist Lou Dobbs.

Obama: Disabled Vet CAN'T Use Email (rimshot!), Supporters Defend Ad

You've surely heard of how Barack Obama "took the gloves off" yesterday, sadistically mocking the physical trauma John McCain suffered --- and continues to suffer --- as a prisoner of war in Vietnam:

The reason he doesn't send email is that he can't use a keyboard because of the relentless beatings he received from the Viet Cong in service to our country. From the Boston Globe (March 4, 2000):

McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain's encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He's an avid fan - Ted Williams is his hero - but he can't raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.

If you haven't seen this cold-blooded ad, here you go:

I'm new to posting my own YouTubes, but I quickly learned you get to choose from a variety of video stills to use as your "placeholder." Obama willfully chose the still that says "Can't send an email." Can't.

Co-chairman of the Obama campaign Rahm Emanuel defends the ad:

"I think he [McCain] said it because he knows, in fact, he's removed from the day-to-day challenges people have faced in their lives," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D--Illinois, co-chairman of Obama's national campaign in a conference call this morning. "And you see it manifest itself in the personal things -- when he says, you know, I don't use a computer. I don't use e-mail. There's a whole economic revolution going on that has fundamentally changed the economy and fundamentally changed people's lives, and he is removed from it."

Yes. John McCain was removed from the daily challenges luxuries and convenient technologies of American life ... for five and half years. Hell, he was removed from the common luxuries of Vietnamese prison life (medical care, sunlight) for two of those years ... in solitary goddamned confinement.

How toxic is Obama's callous attack? His supporters are scrambling to Obama's defense.

Some are pathetically weak: The Viet Cong did not torture McCain, you idjit wingers.

And some are so astoundingly effective that they cluelessly destroy the entire Luddite premise that Obama was shooting for in the first place. Oops.

Speaking of shooting, Goldberg brings up a valid counterpoint:

Lord knows I think the chicken-hawk arguments are stupid. And I don't think the fact that Obama never served in the military should count against him in and of itself. But how stupid is it for the Obama campaign to claim that McCain is unqualified to be president because he can't grasp cyber-security issues based on the fact he has never sent an email when the McCain campaign can just as easily say Obama can't understand first order national security issues because he's never fired a rife, flown a plane, commanded men in battle, or faced an enemy? I mean which prepares someone to be commander in chief better, hitting "send" on AOL or fighting a war?

(h/t: Ace)

UPDATE: Instalanche! Thanks, Glenn. Once hailed as the best politician since Bill Clinton, Obama is letting his campaign fly off the rails. Let's chalk it up to inexperience (video).

UPDATE: Treacherlanche! Thanks, Jim. And STACLU-lanche!

UPDATE (9-14-08): Reluctantly confirmed by McCain:

Assuredly McCain isn't comfortable talking about this -- and the McCain campaign discouraged me from writing about this -- but the reason the aged Arizonan doesn't use a computer or send email is because of his war wounds.

I realize some of the nastier liberals in the blogosphere will see this as McCain once again "playing the POW card," but it's simply a fact: typing on a regular keyboard for any sustained period of time bothers McCain physically.

Video: Palin vs. Obama --- Experience

Sarah Palin shares some insight with Charlie Gibson on whether she has the experience to be Vice President. Barack Obama shares some insight as well:

Britney, Left Alone

Never Forget. Kill me now.

It was exactly one year ago today that this went viral:

8.8 million views. And with that, Chris Crocker bids YouTube adieu.

Limbaugh Is Killing Me

He's on my work radio today and his new rimshot schtick makes me chuckle every time. Especially the Biden ones. The transcript doesn't do the rimshot justice.

"Mainstream Educator", Obama's Friend on 9-11

Here's what Bill Ayers had to say about Sept. 11 in 2006 --- we were hijacked:

I’m writing these words on September 12, 2006— the fifth anniversary of the spectacular hijacking of the monstrous crimes of September 11. That’s right, the hijacking of the hijackings, carried out in plain sight by a different band of right-wing zealots just as determined to impose their arid ideology on America and the world as the thugs of 9-11. It’s a hijacking still  underway, a work-in-progress whose disastrous consequences are only partly apparent.

I especially like how this poster boy for the failure of the criminal justice system ("Guilty as hell, free as a bird --- it's a great country.") would have preferred to respond to 9-11:

The so-called war on terror was simply accepted on all sides, no one qualifying with the necessary, “so-called.” No one asked whether a crime didn’t require a criminal justice response and solution—perhaps a massive response, but within the field of criminal justice nonetheless.

Bill Ayers in startling context from his memoir Fugitive Days --- which he ironically was pimping on the pages of the New York Times on Sept. 11, 2001:

‘‘Everything was absolutely ideal on the day I bombed the Pentagon. The sky was blue. The birds were singing. And the bastards were finally going to get what was coming to them." [William Ayers, Fugitive Days, 2001]

And:

"Night after night, day after day, each majestic scene I witnessed was so terrible and so unexpected that no city would ever stand innocently fixed in my mind. Big buildings and wide streets, cement and steel were no longer permanent. They, too, were fragile and destructible. A torch, a bomb … and they, too, would come undone or get knocked down." [William Ayers, Fugitive Days, 2001]

It's unrepentant America-haters like Ayers that have sadly swamped any treacly tendencies I may have harbored today. I'll never forget ... and never forgive.

I’m writing these words on September 12, 2006— the fifth anniversary of the spectacular hijacking of the monstrous crimes of September 11. That’s right, the hijacking of the hijackings, carried out in plain sight by a different band of right-wing zealots just as determined to impose their arid ideology on America and the world as the thugs of 9-11. It’s a hijacking still  underway, a work-in-progress whose disastrous consequences are only partly apparent.

I especially like how this poster boy for the failure of the criminal justice system ("Guilty as hell, free as a bird --- it's a great country.") would have preferred to respond to 9-11:

The so-called war on terror was simply accepted on all sides, no one qualifying with the necessary, “so-called.” No one asked whether a crime didn’t require a criminal justice response and solution—perhaps a massive response, but within the field of criminal justice nonetheless.

Bill Ayers in startling context from his memoir Fugitive Days --- which he ironically was pimping on the pages of the New York Times on Sept. 11, 2001:

Palin Returns To Alaska

Upon arrival, she bypassed the press (oh no!) on the tarmac to see someone special:

UPDATE: Welcome, National Review (thanks, Lisa) and Say Anything.

Today is so schizophrenic. On the one hand we get a peek at unalloyed joy (above), and on the other we're reminded of some of the ugliest Americans and their friends.

More Palin Alaska homecoming photos can be found here and video of Palin's speech at HotAir (h/t: memeorandum)

CBS Forces YouTube To Yank McCain's "Lipstick" Ad

Because of a certain someone's cameo:

YouTube has removed a webad that casts Sarah Palin as the victim of sexism on the request of CBS, whose anchor Katie Couric was featured in the ad.

The ad can still be seen on McCain's website.

You know, they should have just stuck to MY original script.

Instead they piss off CBS, get everyone talking about media bias, network anchor egos, and YouTube censorship, which fuels the rabid curiosity of those who missed it the first time and forces McCain to produce a new Couric-free version of the ad which then extends the life of this poisonous story for another 2-3 news cycles.

Rove you magnificent bastard.

UPDATE: Ed Driscoll corrects me --- STEVE SCHMIDT you magnificent bastard. RYMB was force of habit! Thanks, Ed.

Video: Obama Explains "Lipstick On A Pig"

In his first response to the firestorm he unleashed with yesterday's callow insult, Barack Obama illustrates the definition of failed comedy ... by explaining his own joke:

Do note the difference in his supporters' laughter:

• His recitation of the "lipstick on a pig" line ... uncertain titters.
• Linking it back to Gov. Palin ... sustained guffaws.

Also notice his jerked head and the quick stammering "It would be funny ... it would be funny," as he instructs those who didn't get the memo "FOR GOD'S SAKE, PLEASE PLEASE DON'T LAUGH AT THIS AGAIN! YOU'RE KILLING ME!"

FAIL.

UPDATE: Thanks, Protein Wisdom, Ace and Three Rounds Brisk.

UPDATE: CBS forces YouTube to pull McCain's ad. Perfect.

Video: McCain's "Lipstick" Ad

That didn't take long:

(h/t: HotAir)

My own video here.

UPDATE: Obama responds --- FAIL.

UPDATE: YANKED BY YOUTUBE. Let's extinguish this trivial distraction pronto. Or not.

Video: You Stay Classy, Obama

Palin, Obama & Lipstick:

UPDATE (9-10-08): ZING. I should get royalties or something.

UPDATE (9-10-08): ZING-ZING. CBS forces YouTube to pull McCain's ad.

Gov. Palin Promotes Alaskan National Guard General

Outrage ensues at HuffPo:

But suddenly--and strangely--the commander of the Alaska National Guard, Major General Campbell, changed his story. By the end of the convention, he was praising Palin's experience, talking on TV about how she had taken control of Alaska's National Guard operations and how she was a "great" leader.

Interestingly enough, Palin promoted him with his third star--to the rank of Lieutenant General--only three days later.

By cracky, I think he's on to something. Quick --- more sleuthing, Brandon! (self-pantsing alert ... and he was on such a roll)

UPDATE II: Whoah. Read this. The plot really thickens now.

He links to a BOMBSHELL MEMO:

Point Paper On Adjutant General State Promotion

Prepared: 28 August 2008

Thank you for allowing this opportunity to provide some background information on Governor Palin’s intention to promote the Adjutant General of Alaska to the state rank of Lieutenant General.

There has been some concern voiced that promotion of the Adjutant General may appear inconsistent with a policy letter dated 1 Mar 08 addressing recruiting and retention in the Alaska Air National Guard (AKANG). To ensure there is no misunderstanding of what the letter directed, a copy is attached.

So an August 28 memo addresses Palin's impending promotion of Campbell.

.

.

.

In case you missed it: McCain announced Palin as his VP pick on August 29.

Sarah Palin:

• Mother
• Moose hunter
• Nostradamus

(h/t: memeorandum)

"First Light": Airborne Laser Hits Milestone

   

As some of you know, I'm in the missile defense business (my company is a cog in the military-industrial complex contractor for the DoD's Missile Defense Agency). While most of my work revolves around the ground- and sea-based elements of our layered ballistic missile defense (BMD) system, my colleagues working on the Airborne Laser just passed a critical test:

The Northrop Grumman-built high-energy laser installed earlier this year on the Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser aircraft fired successfully Sept. 7 in a ground test at Edwards Air Force Base.

Called "first light," the test firing proved that the laser is ready to demonstrate power output sufficient to destroy a ballistic missile in flight.

Flight tests and live-fire laser shots commence next year.

Of course, the ground- and sea-based missile defense platforms have had a string of successful missile intercepts over the past 2 years. So much so that the United Arab Emirates is buying $7 billion worth of the THAAD system. Silly Arabs, don't they know these things are unproven?

(h/t: EC)

Boy, That Escalated Quickly...I Mean, That Really Got Out Of Hand Fast

Writer/director of the comedy Anchorman, Adam McKay screeches about the Corporate Media's role in dooming Obama:

But most importantly we should bring up re-regulating the media and who owns it and what that conflict of interest is a lot more. By pretending there's no conflict of interest we're failing to alert the public that they're being lied to or given a looking at a coin at the bottom of a pool slanted truth. Every time a pundit or elected official is on any TV news program it should be a polite formality to mention that GE has made such and such billions off the war in Iraq by selling arms or that Murdoch is a right-wing activist with a clear stake in who wins and who taxes his profits the least. Disney, GE, Viacom, and Murdoch -- all want profits and the candidate and agenda that will get in their way the least.

And every time Adam McKay opens his yap, it should be a polite formality to mention that Anchorman's studio was Dreamworks/Viacom and that he actively fattened the despised Corporate Media's revenues by $90 million (global box office).

Plus, I'm sure Sumner Redstone killed a guy with a trident.

(h/t: memeorandum)

PS: Why do my favorite entertainers never fail to disappoint me?

UPDATE: For a split second, I thought I was Cal Naughton Jr. to Ace's Ricky Bobby... Shake and Bake! But he probably thinks I'm just a gay Frenchman. C'est la vie. 

You've Come A Long Way, (With) Baby

With all of the parental criticism heaped on Gov. Sarah Palin for having the temerity to run for VP, Lisa Schiffren at National Review (via Concerned Democrats for McCain) points out how it was 40 years ago:

A woman running for office with five kids is a bad mother, the msm have established. But a man who ran for national office with ten kids at home, including a six month-old, and a pregnant wife — became a hero, a martyr, and an icon to which all dreams of what liberalism might have been were attached for a generation. Was Robert F. Kennedy ever vilified for ignoring his family? Did anyone sneer at his failure to abort or use contraception? No and no.

Of course, the Kennedy clan's religious aversion to abortion is understandable. However, it's a good thing Trig Palin wasn't born into Joe Kennedy's dynasty --- here's how JFK and RFK's father dealt with their special needs sister Rosemary Kennedy:

Joe Kennedy could not tolerate "losers"; he banned Rosemary from the house. He then consulted two surgeons in Washington who had become the leading proponents of prefrontal lobotomies. They agreed to operate on Rosemary.

While Dr. Walter J. Freeman supervised, Dr. James W. Watts did the surgery. In the only interview he ever gave on the subject, Dr. Watts described to me how he performed the lobotomy in the fall of 1941.

After Rosemary was mildly sedated, “We went through the top of the head,” Dr. Watts recalled. “I think she was awake. She had a mild tranquilizer. I made a surgical incision in the brain through the skull. It was near the front. It was on both sides. We just made a small incision, no more than an inch.”

The instrument Dr. Watts used looked like a butter knife. He swung it up and down to cut brain tissue.

As Dr. Watts cut, Dr. Freeman asked Rosemary questions. For example, he would ask her to recite the Lord’s Prayer or to sing "God Bless America" or to count backwards. As he cut, her pulse became more rapid, and her blood pressure rose.

“We made an estimate on how far to cut based on how she responded,” Dr. Watts said. “I would make the incisions, and Dr. Freeman would estimate how much to cut as she talked. He talked to her. He would say that's enough.”

When she began to become incoherent, they stopped.

Sadly, the "treatment" didn't work:

Rosemary lived in a separate house on the grounds of St. Coletta’s. Because of the lobotomy, she had the development of a 2-year-old. She could not wash or dress herself or put her shoes on. She had to be supervised at all times.

The Kennedy clan kept Rosemary at the convent for the next 56 years, out of the public eye as her brothers built the dynasty. She died there in 2005.

Elderly Senator Confuses Sunnis & Shias AGAIN

Remember when some old coot of a Senator had a senior moment and mistook Sunnis for Shias?

Dominating several news cycles, the gaffe set off a firestorm which went to the heart of the Senator's vaunted foreign policy expertise. Like Brit Hume, most wrote the mistake off to old age. Chuck Todd went further, saying that if a Democrat candidate had said such a thing it would have been on a "running loop" and a "BIG problem":

Don't look now --- it has happened AGAIN. Yet another senatorial senior moment on today's Meet the Press:

Get off my lawn!

Later, the foreign policy expert crazy old fart rattles off a list of Iraq's neighbors. Unfortunately it's more like a doddering Venn diagram with an Aqua Velva/'roid creme odor, as Iraq now apparently neighbors itself:

Of course, this is all a silly little game. And Allahpundit hates it when people play gotcha with selective editing like I did in the first clip (full clip here, AP). But c'mon --- it's kinda fun, isn't it? Isn't it?

UPDATE: Are you reading this? You know, these words --- right here? Good. Then I hope that means you just read the preceding paragraph, unlike a beclowned commenter below and some unnamed bloggers I tipped this story to. I'll repeat anyway: it was a truncated clip, I disclosed that fact and provided a link to the full clip.

Hell, Bob Owens got the joke immediately with an "O RLY?" appended to his post about this clip. Thanks for taking the time to read an extra 40 words, Bob.

And for those who did indeed take the time to read the entire post, but are still upset at Biden's videos, let me illustrate how an apparently too-nuanced joke can vividly fail ... by explaining it:

Both Senators are OLD. Both Senators MISSPOKE. Both Senators CORRECTED themselves (but not in the case of Biden's Iran=Iraq fumble). The ha-ha comes at the point when you realize one senator's mistake was quickly elevated to a critical evaluation of his foreign policy chops and/or as prima facie evidence of his senility, while the other scoots by unscathed on his Rascal motorized chair. See? Another crappy old guy joke... I give up.

UPDATE: Welcome, HotAir (thanks, Allah!).

Mincing Columnist Peddles New Palin Smear

It's not who you think. But I confidently predict this latest smear will be posted at the once-venerable Atlantic --- or as Ace calls it, "the toniest gay gossip site and antisemitic conspiracy newsletter available in America" --- within the week.

In response to the eye-popping demand for this fall's newest fashion craze, New York Observer columnist and Barneys' creative director Simon Doonan floats this fabulously new catty conspiracy:

“Oh, she is so LensCrafters I just don’t even know where to begin. People keep saying to me, ‘She’s Miss Congeniality.’ I’m seeing more LensCrafters,” Doonan told us. And it wasn't just a snap: Doonan says he heard that Palin actually had Lasik surgery years ago and wears eyeglasses to give her some gravitas.

Resistance is futile, Andrew.

While you're here, how about a Doonan fashion tip?

Fox Picks Up Howard Gutman's "Proper Attack" On Palin

Background on Gutman's self-described "proper attack" here and here.

Much thanks to Gateway Pundit for originally posting the Fox vid and the links to Perfunction.

Waiting For Gutman

So, who is Howard Gutman, Obama's pointman on perfect parenthood? Mastermind of the "proper attack" on Gov. Sarah Palin?

Possibly one of the biggest, bloodiest scalps McCain could tack to the wall:

• Official member of Barack Obama's campaign. You know, one of those folks eligible for something Obama calls "firing" should they attack a candidate's family --- properly or otherwise.
• Only one of 35 bundlers to raise over $500,000 for Obama, on par with Hollywood moguls Daivd Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg
• Not only a registered lobbyist, but Lobbyist of the Year (2006)
• Not only Lobbyist of the Year, but he played a lobbyist (himself) on HBO's K Street
• Did I mention he likes to lobby?
• And that Obama does not?

  • “I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists — and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.”

    — Barack Obama, Speech in Des Moines, IA, November 10, 2007

• And last but not least, defense attorney for Bill Ayers' Weather Underground killers, springing domestic terrorist Susan Rosenberg from prison. Correction: While Bill Clinton sprung Rosenberg via one of his 140 last minute pardons, Gutman was still actively seeking to spring her before Clinton's timely pardon.

Like I said before, he can give Obama the finger over his "off limits" Palin family smear because Howard Gutman OWNS Barack Obama.

UPDATE: Thanks, lauraw(!), Bob Owens and Protein Wisdom.

Palin's Troopergate: Case Closed

• Tasered a child.
• Boozed it up in his patrol car.

Who else is glad that Gov. Palin went out of her way to shitcan this asshole?

Video: Obama To Fire Howard Gutman? Dream On

On Friday's Laura Ingraham radio show (audio here), a member of the Obama campaign's National Finance Committee, Howard Gutman, directly and forcefully questioned the parenting of Gov. Sarah Palin:

"This has nothing to do with gender, whether Todd Palin was the nominee or Sarah Palin was the nominee," [Howard] Gutman said. "If my daughter had just come home at 17 years old and said, 'Mom, Dad, I'm pregnant, we have a family problem,' I wouldn't say, 'You know what we're going to do? We're going to take this private family problem...and you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to go on the international stage and broadcast this to the world.'"

Gutman continued, "this wasn't a working mother issue, this was a parent issue…The proper attack is not that a woman shouldn't run for vice president with five kids, it's that a parent, when they have a family in need, a Down's baby who needs them -- mother or father."

"So you are judging her parenting skills," Ingraham said. "You're saying you don't think she's a good parent for doing this job."

"I'm saying the proper criticism is not that it's a woman or man – it doesn't matter whether it's Todd or Sarah," Gutman said.

[my emphasis]

Gutman explicitly goes to great lengths to avoid offending women voters. He is obviously more afraid of vanquished opponent Hillary and her PUMAs than his own boss, Barack Obama:

Obama should have fired Howard Gutman immediately for his insubordination, instead he has a spokesman issue a typically flaccid warning:

Obama spokesman Bill Burton, asked to respond to Gutman's remarks, said "Obviously these comments do not reflect our frequently stated views that families of the candidates should be off limits."

Gutman directly challenged the leadership of Obama and gets away scot free with an emailed apology to a reporter:

Gutman e-mails to say, "I am writing about certain comments I said on the Laura Ingraham Show.  The comments were largely taken out of context, although by the end, I plainly went too far, for which I apologize.

Obama fails yet another mind-boggling simple test of his authority.

Judgment to Lead.

UPDATE: Thanks, Ace, Jay, Sundries Shack and Rightwingprof. Contrast this to the lengths other politicians go to fire jerks.

UPDATE: When I say Gutman is a "member" of Obama's National Finance Committee, I mean it. He's a "BSD" --- one of only 35 bundlers to raise over $500,000 for Obama on par with David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

No wonder he thinks he can ignore Obama's orders; Howard Gutman owns Obama.

Oh, and there's this gem:

Other notable bundlers include former registered lobbyist and defense attorney Howard Gutman, who in 2001 represented Susan Rosenberg a member of Bill Ayers’s domestic terror group the Weather Underground, someone who was “Lobbyist of the Year” in 2006

Obama on lobbyists:

Dude.

John McCain, Community Organizer

Lay off of Barack Obama's post-graduate community organizing --- John McCain also brought destitute inner city folk together after college.

UPDATE: Thanks, Confederate Yankee and STACLU. 

Reminder Of 9-11 Reignites TV Host's Patriotic Resolve

The 9-11 tribute video from the 2008 Republican National Convention that made Keith Olbermann want to strangle Osama Bin Laden with his bare hands:

And here's Olbermann's steely determination to hunt down those who brought this horror onto our shores and into our living rooms:

Did I say he wanted to draw and quarter "Osama Bin Laden" and put his head on a pike? My bad, I meant "John McCain."

UPDATE: Thanks for the link, Dr. Rusty Shackleford.

John Edwards' Hair: Now 25% Cuter

Excellent idea, CUS: