Chef

Dig the crazy Isaac Hayes* voice that says "McCain" near the end of this, McCain's final campaign ad.

Now that he's hit on the winning plan to make fun of hope, he's on the comeback trail!

* joke, but could it be?

Stop Saying That

When will the Right learn that big snowstorms and unusually cold temperatures do not disprove Global Warming?

Idiot Wind

Rashid Khalidi:

I will stick to my policy of letting this idiot wind blow over.

What We Need

Obama:

We don't need, for example, bigger government, or smaller government. We need better government, smarter government, more competent government.

Insect Sushi

Insect sushi from tokyomango.

Simplistic Anecdotes

John Cole has the background to credibly state this:

Look- the intellectual wing of the Republican party is dead. What is left are brain-dead acolytes spreading meaningless and simplistic anecdotes, trite stories, and distilled nonsense passed on that has a more fitting home in AM radio. The McCain campaign, once again, is just a symptom of the real problem- an intellectually incurious and lazy movement in the final ugly spasms of death. The McCain campaign is now, in their interviews with the press, spreading what we can all recognize as wingnut email chains.

Follow the link, because the post where he reaches this point actually begins by discussing an incredible - and nauseating - little tale spreading in "conservative" circles as something between humor and a "Spread the Wealth" attack.

Sad to See

Skippy's got many examples of why pets hate halloween.

Richer

I just got this as part of an email from Marianne Markowitz, CFO of Obama's campign:

As of October 15th, John McCain and the RNC together had nearly $20 million more in cash than the combined total of Obama for America and the DNC. And just this week, we're facing new and unexpected spending against us in Montana and West Virginia.

Really? Is there some aspect of this stat that is misleading? Or is the RNC just that much richer than the DNC?

Have I fallen victim to a GOP Talking Point that Obama's "outspending" McCain?

Update: Yglesias was also unimpressed by this email.

What Happened to McCain Blogger Michael Goldfarb?

For the last few months, I've been making fun of Michael Goldfarb, who got a gig writing an official blog on John McCain's site.

Oddly enough, there hasn't been a single post up there in almost a week, since the last pathetic one mocking the business fortunes of the The New York Times. Did he get fired?

Seem like kind of an important time to be working for the campaign, assuming they thought you were helping.

Trained

This is why I love Atrios:

Do that many Texans really believe Obama is a Muslim, or are they just trained enough to know they're supposed to say he is.

This mystery will never be solved.

Takes the basic news item, in this case a study by the University of Texas that found that 23% of Texans think Obama is a Muslim, and thinks one step further.

Economist for Obama

Given how hesitant they were to support him all this year, and how quick they were to mock him and his economic policies, it's fairly stunning that The Economist is endorsing Obama.

Any Bed

McCain cracks himself up by claiming Obama has an "automatic wealth-spreader that folds neatly and fits under any bed."

TV Scaring Me

What the FUCK are these Hershey's Chocolate Dunkers from Pizza Hut?

Sarah Freaking Palin

The Editors:

Like, where is Sarah Freaking Palin going to find a VP choice who won’t make her look like a total lightweight, who won’t just use her as a stepping stone to greater things, and who will be willing to launch attacks which she herself finds “too sleazy”?

Oh, I know: Palin/McCain 2012.  That sounds perfect.

The Lies and Hate of Michael Reagan

There's some crazy fucking hate coming out of people Michael Reagan, eldest son of saint Ronald:

There's an old saying that you can't be half-socialist any more than you can be half-pregnant; get knocked up with a socialist fetus and you'll have to deliver a full-born Marxist. There's nothing inbetween. Try it, you'll like it, and if you don't, as the lads in the Gestapo used to tell people, they had ways to make them like it.

And:

Call Barack Obama's program socialism, however and he'll swear on a stack of Qurans it isn't. He calls it change. He says it's fairness, not Marxism.

Oh?

How does he explain the proven fact that he has been wallowing in a sty surrounded by fervent socialists and sharing in their swill for most of his life?

(My emphasis)

"Gestapo?" A "stack of Qurans?" You're not even trying to hide it.

White Flag of Repetition

Hey, Sarah Palin, what will you do if you lose on Tuesday? Will you go back to Alaska?

"Absolutely not," Sarah Palin says. "I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken, that ... that would ... bring this whole ... I'm not doin' this for naught."

If you keep using that phrase, your political career is gonna stay like that.

Exotic Scenarios

Some encouragment from Ta-Nehisi Coates:

Folks, we are watching a revoloution. I'm talking about the technology, the GOTV effort, the historic numbers for black voters, a sick, sick edge among young voters. Are we going to spend the next days trying to concoct exotic scenarios in which the dastardly Republicans steal this one? Are black folks going to sit around wondering of white people will revert back to their Yacubic nature? Or are we going to start thinking about the change taking place right before our eyes, and what it means for our agenda? What will we do? I'm not asking for self-congratulation--just some self-confidence.

The Reality of Palin

Danielle Crittenden, wife of David Frum, demands the right to be a conservative and a critic of Sarah Palin, in T'Aint "Elitist" to Be Anti-Palin:

Don't get me wrong: I love the idea of Sarah Palin. She conforms to an early American (and pre-feminist) ideal of womanhood: rifle on one hip, baby on the other. I love her modern incarnation of this ideal, complete with Sex-in-the-Tundra wardrobe and kick-ass Jimmy Choos (even if they are paid for by the RNC). I love the idea she represents "common sense" over fancy-pants theorizing. I love -- and certainly identify with -- her real world, "out there" experience over her opponents' closed-off years in Washington. Truly, there are few women I'd rather share a beer with.

The problem is that the reality of Sarah Palin does not match the idea of Sarah Palin. It's as plain as day -- glaringly obvious! -- that she's unfit for the job she's running for. We wouldn't expect the best darn regional car saleswoman to be appointed the next vice president of General Motors. We wouldn't fly in a commercial plane piloted by someone with a Cessna license because we trusted her gut. We wouldn't follow a woman into battle because she's a crack shot at moose hunting. Why is it unreasonable -- or snobbish! -- to have expected a better choice from our party for the next potential leader of the free world?

Fallen Something-Or-Other

I'm sorry to learn that Victoria Jackson is a nut:

You see, what bothers me most [about Obama], besides being a Communist, and a racist, is that he is a LIAR. He pretends to be a Christian and he incriminates himself everytime he speaks about Christianity. To lie about being a believer in Christ is very dangerous. Lightning could strike him at any minute! But seriously, he doesn't have a clue what the Bible says and yet he pretends to be a church- going Christian to win votes. That is sooooo evil.

Summary

Josh Marshall:

This is how John McCain ends up -- finishing his presidential quest by arguing that allowing the Bush tax cuts to lapse will bring Socialism to America.