Perfunction

Video: Michael Goldfarb On The Tightest Leash

My God --- for those of you holding out hope that McCain would somehow carpetbomb Obama into oblivion with a re-introduction of Rev. Jeremiah Wright in these final days, forget about it:

To have a campaign spokesman painfully twist in the wind like that demonstrates exactly how off-limits Jeremiah Wright is to the McCain campaign.

Of course, the libs are screaming McCarthyism over Goldfarb's noble self-restraint:

Andrew Sullivan (link moratorium)

Michael Goldfarb, McCain spokesman, accuses Barack Obama of hanging around with anti-Semites - plural - on CNN. Asked to name one other anti-Semite other than his allegation about Rashid Khalidi, he can't. He won't. But he leaves it hanging, refusing to disown or retract the charge. This is pure McCarthyism. And it is the rotten core of McCain.

and

Joe Klein

I'd say that if we have a bigot here, it's Mr. Goldfarb who, if he's intent on calling people antisemitic--or any other epithet--should be required to provide chapter and verse, which he does not do on CNN.

Video: Obama & Clinton: We'll Meet Again

After Obama's infomercial last night, Bill Clinton joined Barack on stage in Florida to give his most hearty endorsement yet. The smarmy Clintonian chutzpah was so strong, well, I got a little nostalgic and started dreaming of middle class tax cuts of the past:

Video: A Tale Of Two Gaffes

In the flurry surrounding the discovery of the radioactive "Obama the Socialist" tapes from 2001 on Monday, this boneheadedly defensive Obama TV ad came out --- and no one checked it:

First off, why on earth would Obama give the Biden "international crisis" gaffes any more oxygen?

Second, why would Obama brazenly LIE about McCain's use of Biden's gaffe?

For the record, Biden made two separate --- yet very similar --- gaffetastic speeches: one in San Francisco on Saturday the 18th and one in Seattle on Sunday the 19th. Each Biden speech guaranteed "international crises" and "tests" of a young, inexperienced president.

McCain made an ad using audio from Biden's most recent --- and thus most accurate --- speech from Seattle on the 19th (transcript here and full, uncut audio here, relevant part at 10:13)

Obama's ad above claims that McCain was "playing with audio tapes," by leaving out the key Biden quote:

"They're gonna find out this guy's got steel in his spine." --- October 19, 2008

One thing: Joe Biden did NOT say that on October 19, 2008 in Seattle. He said it the day before in San Francisco. And John McCain did not "play" with audio --- or falsley attribute a quote to the wrong date like Obama did.

Why would Obama attempt such a brazenly mendacious defense?

Because his friends in the press had conveniently put Biden's "steel spine" quote on the record --- on the wrong day and in the wrong city. Thank you NBC and Andrea Mitchell:

Breitbart.tv has noticed Obama's chutzpah as well (longish video).

HuffPo: 1960s Fatal Car Accident Haunts Senator

Trying to repeat the spectacular last minute nuke dropped on Bush in 2000, the Huffington Post is trying to dig up some dirt on McCain.

Oh, my bad.

(h/t: memeorandum)

TNR: Getting Skittish Over Polls

According to The New Republic's Noam Scheiber, guess what's getting traction? Ixnay on the Ocialismsay:

My immediate concern is twofold: That McCain is getting some traction with his liberal/socialist/redistributionist charge--the WaPo tracker shows McCain narrowing the gap on the economy over the last week--and, in light of this, that Obama is striking his high-note a few days too early. I'd feel more comfortable if he roughed McCain up a bit longer (though, in fairness, his "closing argument" speech is very good and it does take some swipes at McCain. Also, it's not like the campaign isn't still running tough ads.).

Obama repeats his Berlin collapse because of an ideology that collapsed in Berlin? Delicious.

Video: GOP Commercial Against Parker Griffith

Fighting for the open Congressional seat in my district (which has been Democrat for 167 years), Democrat Parker Griffith recently said:

"I think America's greatest enemy is America and its materialism. And I think that we have nothing to fear from radical Islam. I don't fear radical Islam."

With one week to go, the GOP finally has gotten around to making an ad:

And Cuffy's due some royalties:

Video: Singing For Redistributive Change

In light of Obama's recent call for redistributive change, I take another whack at a classic --- the Obama Youth:

UPDATE: Welcome, doubleplusundead and Snapped Shot. I suppose I should have warned you that you were about to watch the most racist video in the history of Mankind ... and with that this post is now both racist and sexist. I'm all about value.

YouTube Plagiarism (deleted)

Apology accepted & post/comments deleted.

Memeorandum Serendipity: Death Of The New York Times

Scanning the New Item sidebar at memeorandum, these two headlines jumped out. Separated by only one other story, these illustrate ... something:

Palin's Makeup Stylist Fetches Highest Salary in 2-Week Period

Michael Luo / The Caucus (aka New York Times election blog)

and

NYTimes Profit Slide; S&P Downgrades Credit Rating

Agence France Press

Meanwhile, the biggest political conspiracy since Watergate sits beneath the noses of these Woodwards & Bernsteins.

Vetted, authorized, measurable and limited campaign contributions being used to buy clothes and do hair versus multiple, international, unvetted and UNLIMITED credit card contributions using untold phony names/addresses being used to steal an election --- which does the dying New York Times target?

 

Pink sheets, here we come!

"Get In Their Face!"

So implored Obama recently.

Awful --- for a totally new reason = HOAX:

Lisa Schiffren On Funding Palin's Wardrobe

I'm so glad that Democrats are so concerned about how Republicans spend their own goddamned money. Maybe some of that hand-wringing concern will rub off on their confiscatory tax policy.

NRO's Lisa Schiffren (and GOP donor/wardrobe funder) defends this stupid non-issue:

Instead, she had zero time and no personal fortune. And she faced the terrible hurdle of being young and attractive — the very sort of woman who most desperately needs wardrobe cues to make her look authoritative. If she had had to pay for it herself, she could not have run. The bill would have been ruinous to a genuinely middle class person. So the GOP did what it had to do in order to put a non-rich woman on a national ticket. Whatever one thinks of the choice — and I am a supporter — it's nice to see that someone was thinking about the details. The difference between Palin at the announcement in Dayton, and Palin at the convention was a subtle but impressive transformation. Subtle always costs more. As a sometime GOP donor, I begrudge her none of it.

Funny thing is, sometimes it doesn't really matter what she's wearing:

(Soldier 3 to Soldier 4: "Dude. Check it.")

z

Video: Maine Sign Sparks Controversy

    

A guy from Maine is stirring up the hornet's nest with his homemade yard sign using these pics as inspiration (CNN's embedded video is notoriously crappy, go here if it's not appearing below):

Video: Obama On Outdated Ideology

My latest vid with remarks from Obama's speech in Florida yesterday:

UPDATE: Obama mentor William Ayers' forgotten manifesto to an outdated ideology, Prairie Fire, is exposed by Zombietime:

Socialism is the total opposite of capitalism/imperialism. It is the rejection of empire and white supremacy. Socialism is the violent overthrow of the bourgeoisie, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the eradication of the social system based on profit. Socialism means control of the productive forces for the good of the whole community instead of the few who live on hilltops and in mansions. Socialism means priorities based on human need instead of corporate greed. Socialism creates the conditions for a decent and creative quality of life for all.

Obligatory Dreams From My Father clip:

(h/t: memeorandum for the Prairie Fire find)

Video: Poll: US Troops Support McCain 3-1

Latest results of a poll of active military by Military Times:

But...but...just two months ago we were told that troops deployed abroad made campaign contributions to Obama by a 6-1 ratio --- Unpossible!

OK, so it was just 134 troops that contributed to him.

(h/t: Breitbart)

Video: Ref Blocks Player, Election Metaphor Materializes

From this past Saturday's LSU/South Carolina game, the unbiased mainstream referee (MSR) inserts himself into the game:

South Carolina lost.

ESPN report:

Of course, racial Zapruders like TPM's Josh Marshall will see something totally different.

Loins Girded: (AUDIO) Biden Promises International Crisis In First 6 Months

UPDATE: Here's the audio I YouTubefied:

On the very same day that Colin Powell's endorsement supposedly calmed the nerves of those worried about Obama's foreign policy inexperience, running mate Joe Biden makes the counter-argument --- God love 'im:

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

Think that'll find its way into a McCain ad?

And a shout-out to you lurking PUMAs:

(h/t: memeorandum)

UPDATE: Welcome, Confederate Yankee. Bob Owens makes an excellent point that I missed the first go around: not only does Biden promise that this crisis will occur, but that Obama will royally screw it up. Wow.

Video: McCain Fights For Joe The Plumber & Obama Mocks

Yesterday, your humble blogger jumped the gun and produced a (now viral) video culled from another choppy YouTube soon after Barack Obama's speech about Joe the Plumber in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Obama's comments were political dynamite and speedy dissemination was of the essence.

With no access to raw DVR'd video, I rely exclusively on stuff already posted online. Unfortunately, the second-hand video I clipped did not include the full context of Obama's statement. I updated my original post with the full text quote, in which Obama mocks John McCain's fighting for a plumber.

This afternoon, I finally found an extended clip of better quality, helpfully posted by an Obama supporter --- thanks, buddy. I was about to simply post it as a final update to my original post and close the chapter. But then I read this:

Politicians -- Sarah Palin, Bill Clinton, et al. --  obviously have to put up with some rude, nasty shit, but it's  right there in the jobs description. Joe the Plumber is different. He was a guy tossing a football with his kid in the front yard of his $125,000 house when a politician picked him out as a prop for a 30 second newsbite for the cable news cameras. Joe simply had the temerity to speak truth (or, if you prefer, an uninformed opinion) to power, for which the politico-media axis apparently determined that he must be humiliated, harassed, smashed, destroyed. The viciousness and glee with which they set about the task ought to concern anyone who still cares about citizen participation, and freedom of speech, and all that old crap they taught in Civics class before politics turned into Narrative Deathrace 3000, and Web 2.0 turned into Berlin 1932.0.

So you know what?

Screw them and their "fairness." This is now fucking war.

Here's a new version of my video. I gave it an appropriate title (McCain Fights For Plumber & Obama Mocks), I use the better quality CNN video and for those rigid taskmasters, I include the full sentence Obama stutters at the beginning. And that's all the "fairness" you'll get. Deal with it:

So, sorry for that first video. Feel free to spread this one far and wide.

Circle Complete: Joe The Plumber Lived In Palin's Alaska

Add in some CIA-placed WTC demolition charges, a Grassy Knoll, and some leaking amniotic fluid and the conspiracy is complete:

Long before he was "Joe the Plumber," Joe Wurzelbacher lived in North Pole and Eielson Air Force Base, according to Alaska public records. A family member says Wurzelbacher came to the state in the mid-1990s and stayed about four years — long enough to have the son who can be seen standing next to him in the now famous YouTube clip of Wurzelbacher grilling Sen. Barack Obama about taxes.

Someone alert child stalker Andrew Sullivan --- we need Joe's DNA tested, STAT:

Joe the Plumber & Trig the Time-Traveler?

UPDATE: Welcome, Little Green Footballs and Ace.

If you haven't seen Obama smugly mocking McCain and Joe, you are missing out (re-cut video).

Video: Obama Mocks Joe The Plumber, Crowd Laughs

And the angry mob screams, "Kill him! Put him out of business!"...

UPDATE: Welcome HotAir, Riehl World View, Protein Wisdom, National Review, Instapundit, Ed Driscoll, memeorandum, AOSHQ, Bob Krumm and Tammy Bruce.

Too bad Joe the Plumber has received more scrutiny in 24 hours than Bill Ayers has in the past 24 months. For instance, did you know that Joe has a connection to Sarah Palin? Conspiracy!

UPDATE: As I pointed out in the comments, the speech footage obtained was already clipped (except for some standard, extraneous UH-UH-UH's which I removed --- you're welcome, Barack). Allahpundit has the full quote:

“He’s trying to suggest that a plumber is the guy he’s fighting for,” Obama said. “How many plumbers you know that are making a quarter-million dollars a year?”

The jerk factor is marginally reduced. Still, as Glenn asks, what's wrong with fighting for a plumber? And beyond the truncated first part, why does Obama feel the need to belittle Joe's professional aspirations to be a successful plumber with the attendant income that brings?

MAJOR UPDATE: I found a full version of Obama's comment about Joe and re-cut this video to reflect the full context. Enjoy.

Video: Mister President!! - Cocaine In The White House (NSFW)

NSFW comedy tragedy comedy:

(h/t: Ace for the Chappelle part)

Obama: "Sexuality Is Sacred"

 

During the debate's discussion on abortion and teenage sex, Obama seemed to have launched some sort of mysterious abortion rights cruise missile that just flew under the radar: "Sexuality is Sacred."

I have never heard that phrase in my life, but apparently it's a huge hit with the lib chick bloggers. Why? Engaging Google-Fu...

UPDATE: Alright, apparently "sexuality is sacred" is not some N.O.W. cliche as I suspected. Rather, it has not only been adopted by the Democrat candidate for President, but a full spectrum of diverse --- and totally bowwwn-chicka-bowowwwn freaky-naughty--- sexual adventurers.

Markos Moulitopolis Fromunda: I Will Crush You

My pants? Crapped.

Cuffy's District Now Safe: Democrat Parker Griffith Self-Destructs - "America's Greatest Enemy Is America"

I haven't blogged about my own local congressional race, because most all readers find local stuff B-O-R-I-N-G. But the Democrat challenger for my district's open seat just killed his better-than-good chances in the most spectacular way possible. How spectacular? Well, I just heard about it on Limbaugh of all places. Uh oh.

Alabama's 5th district is the northernmost district in the state and home to the bulk of the Department of Defense's missile defense infrastructure, US Army's Redstone Arsenal, Army helicopter command, Army missile command, Army UAV command, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, and the several hundred thousand government contractors (disclosure: I'm a Missile Defense Agency contractor) that support all of these activities. You might call Huntsville an Army town.

So when Parker Griffith says "America's greatest enemy is America" voters here kinda notice.

Thing is, Griffith was running for an open seat, held by a retiring blue dog Democrat for the past 16 years, against (frankly) a doofus, Republican Wayne Parker. Indeed, except for 2 years after Reconstruction and 2 years of Populism, this district has been in Democrat hands for the past 167 years.

Getting no traction in a tough cycle for Republicans, Parker and the GOP were reduced to uncomfortably attacking former-physician Griffith's medical career. Ugly stuff:

Thank God all remaining commercials will simply repeat this, over and over and over:

"I think America's greatest enemy is America and its materialism. And I think that we have nothing to fear from radical Islam. I don't fear radical Islam."

Bu-bye, Griffith.

UPDATE: Here's a little video I put together for Griffith:

Video: NYT Tries To Ice McCain

The New York Times tries mightily to ice McCain's last ditch mandatory attack on Obama at tonight's final debate:

The McCain campaign’s recent angry tone and sharply personal attacks on Senator Barack Obama appear to have backfired and tarnished Senator John McCain more than their intended target, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll has found.

Sadly, some conservative bloggers are buying into this --- big time.

Listen. With all the caterwauling about MSM bias, do you not think that it is entirely within the realm of possibility that the very same MSM is also gaming their own MSM polls? As Limbaugh has said many times, media-sponsored polls are just another arrow in their agenda quiver and a lazy --- but highly effective --- way to manufacture news.

Or to preemptively disarm McCain of his last, best weapon.

As Chuck Todd said this morning, McCain must disqualify Barack Obama tonight or it's over:

(h/t: memeorandum)

UPDATE: Welcome, Protein Wisdom (thanks, Jeff).

Christopher Buckley: NOT A Homersezual

But according to S. Weasel, so very, very gay.

I dunno; maybe it's just his hacky attempt to ape the gimmick of a much more successful conservatish writer:

Ahmadinejad's Tehran Times: Concerned About American Welfare, Radars

Why oh why are you heartless Americans spending scarce dollars on defending Israel from the missiles of an unnamed mortal enemy when your own citizens are hurting so? I feel your pain:

"If it were proposed that this fraction of the tax revenues should be allocated to reduce the pains in the hearts of one thousand (US) owners of foreclosed properties in the working class neighborhoods of Chicago or to improve the educational quality of the pathetic school systems in the South Bronx, Bed Stuyvesant of Brooklyn or Spanish Harlem, no doubt the same senators who unanimously voted for the (radar's deployment) would have rejected it outright with no hesitation or mercy."

Video: Rise of Bill Ayers: IED Maker & Obama Mentor

Most of us have heard plenty (some too much) about Bill Ayers lately. But while I was aware of the highlights of Ayers' notorious career, this 2004 documentary (The Weather Underground) efficiently wraps the rise of a true American terrorist organization in a tight package.

The Weather Underground (formerly the sexist-sounding Weathermen) was the violent splinter group of the '60's antiwar group, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Just like the Jacobins usurped the French Revolution and the Bolsheviks the Russian, the Weather Underground took a predictable trajectory: grabbing the reigns of the until-then non-violent SDS and steering it towards a series of violent riots and bombings.

Bill Ayers was the leader of this internal revolution and mastermind of SDS's lurch to violence.

One of the early SDS presidents, Todd Gitlin, vividly describes this seizing of power and Ayers' murderous choices in the documentary.

A big fan of efficiency, I trimmed the documentary down further (to 7 minutes), focusing in on the Bill Ayers segments --- and sprinkled with some editorial juxtapositions.

Watch for Ayers blithely recounting his self-taught IED bomb-making skills, the Gitlin interview, and at the end, Ayers' terrorist wife Bernardine Dohrn talking about their tragic lack of house guests (video below the break):

Video: You Can't Out-Socialize A Socialist

But you can sure try:

"The McCain Resurgence Plan would purchase mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers, and replace them with manageable, fixed-rate mortgages that will keep families in their homes," according to the campaign.  "By purchasing the existing, failing mortgages, the McCain Resurgence Plan will eliminate uncertainty over defaults, support the value of mortgage-backed derivatives and alleviate risks that are freezing financial markets."

Simply awful. Nina Easton shares my disgust: 

Adios: Off To New Mexico

With a vacation to see fruity balloons and cliff dwellings, posting will be spotty to nonexistent until middle of next week. Later.

Video: Sportscasting, Politics & Our Future Overlord

Ahhh, that staple of the local TV news, the 4 minute sportscast. Take a journey with me as we visit some unforgettable moments in sports broadcast journalism and their inscrutable political consequences.

NBA scores and Iditarod? You betcha!

What a leap, you say. How in the world can some random, local teleprompter reader rise to such heights of political mastery?