Torture Report

Senator John McCain makes a speech that is the best I have heard from a Republican that I can recall.  Just a few of those and the courage to hold to them earlier, may have changed history, but hopefully it is never too late !! 

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More than psychologicaL...

but part of it for now.
Obama begins treatment of the economy.
Previous claims of mental depression.
McCain/Gramm syndrome dealt with.

[On the other hand: Trickle-Down Bailout Continues.]

[There is only one psychologist at a time. But Obama must be semi-engaged and Bush must acknowledge his part, not that this means that the Citigroup move was crazy. Until the transition is complete there is a good reason for this cross between a tug-a-war and teeter-totter. Can we say legacy? Bailout is a misnomer except as a metaphor for a rising tide that doesn't lift all boats and just who is the bailer or bailee of the trickle-down [*].]

[11-25-08: Obama Stressing Recovery [**] ]

[11-26-08: [*] bold and link update and [**] steady but tiered course of change.]

[11-10-09: I must note that I correct the dates above from somehow August to must be November.{?}]

Dig this!

If the last post got nowhere...*
The last bastion of the rational.

The suggestion that the reason to vote for McCain as a "check" or "balance" to Obama does not meet the sheets. OK, more obtuse and mixed metophor of I don't know what field, but certainly not logic. OK, I don't want to do the math, but the words are more important. It would seem to take well more than the available seats at risk to even get close to a "liberal Democrat" majority, let alone 60 Democrats. It is that plain and simple, without the math involved.

[*] 10-30-08 It maybe be condescending or demeaning to assume that it didn't, not to mention contradictory... But campaign ads for Reichert indicate he has sold his soul to... Karl Rove and if evidence matters, his reputation down the drain.

ACORN: Seeds of Destruction

A squirrely claim is just nuts!

McCain perpetrator of collusion?

Voter Fraud Myth covers wholesale theft of voter rights.

On the lighter side:
The Powell Endorsement is more than cage* liner. No disrespect for the sources only some of the content**. Rush Limbaugh claimed that it was purely an issue of race. The connection to Ted is tennuous, but Ed?

* no slight but reference to both squirrel and voter caging***
** CNN is not really "fair and balanced" on some issues but the CSM referred to Rush's claim of race being the issue.

*** a new wrinkle: voter Re-registration fraud?

Debates Over?

Well it is 3 for 3 for Obama, unless you count the Warren Forum and the upcoming Al Smith dinner.

Domestic Policy:

McCain did not exactly attack using the same language that his campaign uses, and Obama did not exactly reply the way I suggested to the campaign. But McCain did come out on the losing end of the "tit-for-tat" as Obama simply had to repeat what was already out there and apparently missed by the McCain camp. My suggestion would have involved a reference to the media filters or reading material that McCain has access to in regards to his charge that Obama has not addressed the Ayers issue. Obama avoided getting dragged into the mud of the playground that McCain seemed to revel in. If you check all the bright eyed "gotcha" moments where McCain seemed to feel he was landing something, you might find that he overshot the runway. And it was generous that Obama did not more than smile at the childishness or point out McCain's confusion at some points.

New label: Debate.

Rope a dope.

With all the fighting metaphors,
McCain stepped right into his own words,
swung from "that one".[*]
I came in sometime in the late rounds,
but I thought that the "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" jab was on target.
Precious notes: no Palin or Governor referenced in the debate.

Demeaner question: Senator Obama should not worry about being condescending, Senator McCain is a Descending Con.

And Senator McCain should resist using the term telegraph or blows ,
especially since he is the inventor of the Rasberry.
Now those are quips you can depend on.

[Interactive Debate Video/Transcripts]

[*] link added showing him getting tickled again "Oh Please"

May I call you Sarah?

Say it ain't so, Sarah.
Speaking of bars...

Palin-Biden Transcript

Obama-McCain Transcript (First debate)
Say it ain't so, Jack.

MCCAIN: So let me get this right. We sit down with Ahmadinejad, and he says, "We're going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth," and we say, "No, you're not"? Oh, please.

An imagined zinger embedded in the reality of diplomacy and nuance.
AKA: McCain Debates (or Tickles) Self.

Speaking of Straight Talk Express... or links
Or not?

Palin Not Albright

Now that is really the point.
In this area, Palin is right. The media did turn it into something. Palin played the media card, right on top of the gender card. Thanks to ThomHartmann.com and this getting me through Huffington Post, to Keating Economics.
[What Palin read! Coffee Cups!]

Pre-Palin-Biden-Debate

Governor Palin should not be allowed to be condescending.
She has already given condescending a new meaning. Well...maybe it is the old meaning.
Maybe it is the full meaning of irony, she gives out.
Lowering the bar, to be above it all.
[POST DEBATE COMMENT:
Governor Palin clearly hit the hockey puck out of the park*.
Senator Biden clearly kept it on ice and scored the goals.
Debate winner: Biden
Of course my expectations were met.** Palin clearly could not be as uninformed and goofy as she portrays herself. She is still wrong and uninformed but had a wonderful performance. She performed well above the bar she had so casually stomped on. Biden held to his promise and avoided being condescending, while Palin raised condescension to almost a snottiness mixed with the matronly scolding of an errant child.]
[Early Polls: Independents
Biden won, little game change.
Secondary winner? The media. They survived her bashing. Meaning that the debate did not change the composite picture the people have.] Belittle. The word used in post debate comment on MSNBC, that is the word for the condescension.
The debate may have halted Palin's drag on the ticket, it just won't drag it in the right direction.
** I am relieved that Palin was not worse than she has been shown to be, and that Biden was not cowed by her tactics.
* this asterisk inserted much later to include a just found reference to park and

Update:

Palin caution.
Tentative Plan!

I may just be flip-flopping in both these areas, but it does seem to me that pundits may have been missing something, where Palin is not exactly Straight Talk but it is more of the same, while I am not always sure if I know or pundits or McCain knows what is on the table. Maybe I am too flip, but I am pretty sure they are all about flops or flaps. Hey! They haven't been too serious either.

And Bailout...

McCain it seems, is heading for the debate,
but it seems that he does not even know what plan is on the table.

And I am not sure too many do. And that was the day he suspended his campaign.

As usual the Democrats will get something done, while the Republicans hold onto their agenda of politics and business over people. [*]

Meanwhile progress at the UN Security Council on Iran is at risk of being more business as usual. I only heard a brief news item about a Russia calling something legally binding but without santions.

[* Bold only with this updated: Senator Bernie Sanders on The Thom Hartmann Show** has just now framed this. And last week mentioned the October Surprise as the bailouts arrived. Some people have said that the economy could not wait till October, but really politics could not wait, since congress was scheduled to go home to campaign.]

** must link this show "hit and run" aspect: Bush hits, Dems fix, Republicans Run. (see Domke)
Not to mention that this is a distraction that keeps politicians from being able to run.

Taking a powder?

Talk about make-up.
What powder is dry for.

The Party is over! [Tentative Plan!]

I must admit as far as timeouts go, I don't necessarily take time to read some of the stuff that others filter. But I do at least get them somewhat filtered* by others and/or read parts of them. Of course with McCain he needs some kind of other filter it seems. I, it seems, have had enough. But I am going by the gist of the sentiment that the party is over for the administration when it comes to lack of oversight.

* in this case I wonder what the definition of suspend is as well as talking points let alone Express leaks.

Summary of a Flap.

Bailout or Meltdown? [UPDATE: above expired link with likely replacement.]

Really in actually reading this report[**], I will not cross-check it with all my comments and references. But McCain's panic was a beneficial coherence with Bush's, ironically indicated by looking into their eyes and seeing the same deer in the headlights. I don't know if it was in the reflection or their face as a hole, but the only plus to this Double of Mass Distraction is that "you can fool me once..." or I mean we see the boys "who cried wolf", while others have kept their cool.

LAST WORD: I may have to seriously suspend something as my wrists need their own wresting to other matters. But with that I will reference a guest on Rachel Maddow: author of... Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency The real flap in my view. Now is this a flap that is too out there? Well it has to do with the approach that is being taken and by who for whom, or is it whom for who?
In this flip-flop the people matter and there are only three branches of government and the media and politics are the people's business. In fact the press is mentioned in the Bill of Rights not to mention what is not mentioned in the constitution. How does this connect to any thing close to home? Well, floods and bailouts and who is a fundamental or just under the trickle down. Isn't it appropriate that TARP was the original name for the flap. Speaking of eyes and flaps, why not just face the fact that the people not only want to have the debate, but some think it should be about the economy rather than foreign policy now that would take courage* to face with out blinking.

* not to mention George or Will

[**] 3-19-09 rare editorial touchup throughout, one typo and italics and bold only and the economy link.

Daily Sarcasm (I mean, Intel)

McCain suspends politics,
McCain/Bush Gimmick

Comment: Sarcasm aside the markets were stable yesterday, and given the credibility of the president, his scare tactics may just calm the market. Or could it be, when things get tough, the tough get going. Obama and congress (Democrats anyway) have kept their cool and continued their work, while Republicans may be in faux retreat. Meaning the "Paulson Plunder", 3-1/2 pages, which are no longer on the table, has evolved into something more sensible unless it can not make it into new words on paper that actually have teeth.

It is noted that "It was the first time in Mr. Bush’s presidency that he delivered a prime-time speech devoted exclusively to the economy." While I was thinking something similar, but mostly that this was the so-called MBA president, who is finally learning something.

Stay tuned... but I think I will suspend something.

Meanwhile: more whining, and I wonder what McCain will say about Letterman and CBS.

Other's comments: gawker? And to contrast the journalism of the New York Times. I suspect this is really why Palin was picked to create a media conspiracy. Almost hinted at here, as "anti-media manipulation", well this week was the test of "real dignity and cool". This last being my unspinning of spinmeister or mistress* Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal on Friday. (Noonan: Reagan speech-writer and Special Assistant, and free market think tank trustee.

* Is madame maybe more accurate? But they are probably against being PC.

Bailout!

Republican opposition to old plan.

In McCain's acceptance speech I believe he talked about reaching for a hand across the aisle. Today he apparently reached across networks if not the nation. In the earlier instance I imagined him giving that hand a good yank with an evil grin. Today he did just that, but with a more dazed look.

Here is how it played out:
Obama asks McCain for Joint Economic Statement
McCain Cancels Letterman Appearance for Katie Couric
Bush has new plan.
Sounds a bit like the Democrat's plan.
Rachel?

Long story short? Talking Points?
Panic Intercepted by Politics.

All in?

I think David Letteman said: "Something is fishy."
And a caller to Rachel Maddow(hosted by David Bender) may have hit the dead fish on the head. McCain wants to avoid having Sarah Palin have a debate. That may be where the media may have taken the bait though. But the public probably won't bite.

The real so called lure in this strategy is that McCain wants to put the economy over his campaign. Well despite recent tugging at the Paulson Plunder, his plans only nibble at a solution, while the economy really is spinning his campaign out of control. OK, fishy metaphors aside, I can't get away from it stinking. The Dead On Arrival plan was a no brainer, not to pass, and the only way to spin this is that the administration has set him up to seem a hero, while congress will look bad for not biting. My suggestion: bite back. Let McCain retreat to work on his plan with the administration, while Democrats and Obama work on a plan with and for the American people.

There are only two choices: Congress doesn't act and the economy is in a fix. Or congress acts and McCain can take credit or cast blame for getting or not getting what he wants. It will be negotiated or not, with or without McCain.

In the end, McCain is the loser because it goes directly against his argument that government is not there to fix things. But in the end, he might be able to prove that they are not. That will make the people the loser, and not really change you can believe in.

McCain camp sexist.

Sarcasm? (see video)
No- perfect rhetoric.
[If you can't stand the heat...]
I don't know about Sam Stein's comment, but Ed Schultz's callers thought Campbell Brown was being sarcastic? Could be, but that only misses who it is aimed at. Ed and I take it serious. Maybe I missed where Ed is lost, but the Palin selection is no Joke. The point is that sexism is their defense for their offense. It is great that she is a woman. But if she were a man, her policies would be the point where we would have issues. Meanwhile she (the Maverick) is being trained in the same old politics. Oops, now I have trampled into agism. But referenced back to training and issues should bring to mind Reagan not to mention Nixon handlers, by way of Bush and Rove.

Forget about Truman and his "get out of the kitchen" metaphor: they can't even stand the sarcasm, let alone the media.
[get out of the sarcasm...]
[But it remains to be seen when she does face the media, will she be prepared or just polished and the media still the battered significant other.]

Political Strings Pulled

Bush upcoming big speech.

McCain wants debate delay.

Ed Schultz plays a good question McCain faced but refused to answer while spinning it back on the Dems. The administration has known this was coming for some time while McCain's advisor has been on the payroll of Freddie Mac.

If the debate is cancelled the meeting with Bush should take them to task or at least be framed as who you bring to the table. Who will Obama and McCain be bringing and who will Bush have there? What will the purpose be? It would really be fun if it were only Bush, McCain, and Obama and us. What would the Independents, the Greens, or the Libertarians bring to the table? I think it would be a smart move if the purpose is unclear to skip the meeting and let McCain and Bush play politics, and let congress give them the business. Or rather take them over.

On the other hand, could it be that McCain has finally changed?

Maybe we are finally there.

White House welcomes plans. Just as I suspected. Another Straw Elephant.

Meanwhile just as I post this and search for links, this breaks:
"We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved," McCain said. "I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so."

How this is enacted could be a clean break for us. But I think the real "panic" is political. And McCain ad proves it. Or at least not a clean break for McCain.

Now Ed's got it. The networks should give both candidates a rebuttal. Especially if one is going to run for the other rather than debate.

STOP THE PAULSON PLUNDER

AND PUSH ALTERNATIVE
Last night the King County Democrats passed a resolution similar to the above action link.

Previous post has more action links:
ourfuture.org
and
Senator Bernie Sanders Independent