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Election 2008: McCain stole Tim Russert’s Brain! [Karl]

At TPM, Josh Marshall is already proclaiming the vast right-wing conspiracy against Barack Obama:

Hopefully, everyone can now see the McCain strategy for running against Barack Obama. Yes, we have some general points on taxes, culture wars and McCain as war hero who can protect us in ways that flash-in-the-pan pretty boy Barack Obama can’t.

But that’s not the core. The core is to drill a handful of key adjectives into the public mind about Barack Obama: Muslim, anti-American,BLACK, terrorist, Arab. Maybe a little hustler and shifty thrown in, but we’ll have to see. The details and specific arguments are sort of beside the point…

Now, a good deal has been made out of John McCain’s repudiation of talk radio yakmeister Bill Cunningham, who led off for McCain at one of his rallies with the full run of Obama sludge. But don’t be distracted or fooled. This is more like an example of what the digital commerce folks refer to as ‘channel conflict’. You’ve got your multiple distribution channels.

***

Don’t insult your intelligence or mine by pretending that John McCain’s plan for this race doesn’t rely on hundreds of Cunninghams — large and small — across the country, and the RNC and all the GOP third party groups, to be peddling this stuff nonstop for the next eight months because it’s the only way John McCain have a real shot at contesting this race.

If McCain really wants to repudiate this stuff, he can start with the Tennessee Republican party which dished all the slurs and smears about Obama being a Nation of Islam-loving anti-Semite, just today. And once he’s done talking to the people who will be running his Tennessee campaign, we’ll have a number of others he can talk to, like the head of his Ohio campaign, former Sen. Mike DeWine, who gave that Cunningham guy his marching orders.

Let’s just not fool ourselves, not lie to ourselves about what’s happening here and who’s in charge.

“Marching orders,” by the way, means at the most asking someone to give the crowd some “red meat,” not ordering a slur or a smear.  For example, Cunningham could have simply quoted Tom Buffenbarger:

Buffenbarger called Obama a “thespian,” and he sarcastically referred to the junior senator from Illinois as a “wunderkind.” He compared Obama to “Janus, the two-faced Roman god of ancient times.” *** 

Early in his speech, Buffenbarger asked, “So now we have a decision to make. Will we rely on the Harvard Law Review editor? The silver-tongued orator from Kansas, Hawaii and Illinois? The man in love with the microphone?”

Taking off the gloves, he said, “Barack Obama is no Muhammad Ali. He took a walk every time there was a tough vote in the Illinois State Senate. He took a walk more than a 130 times. That’s what a shadow boxer does. All the right moves. All the right combinations. All the right footwork. But he never steps into the ring.”

Buffenbarger was introducing Hillary Clinton at the time, with more “red meat” than one is likely to find at the local Outback Steakhouse.  The smear in this instance is Marshall’s baseless innuendo that DeWine intended to have Cunningham say what he did.

Marshall wants McCain to repudiate a TN GOP mailer (including the photo of Obama in native garb circulated by Clinton staffers)?  McCain did so hours before Marshall’s post.  Not that it was a good-faith demand by Marshall, who told his readers not to be fooled by McCain’s repudiation of Cunningham in the first place.

As for Marshall’s theory of multiple distribution channels, we can check in with the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder:

No less an authority figure than Karl Rove has warned Republican operatives from demagoguing Barack Obama’s middle name.

***

Right wing figures are set to ignore Rove’s advice. Rush Limbaugh used Obama’s middle name more than a year ago, and Ann Coulter regularly uses the middle name… So does Michael Savage…

Mind you, Limbaugh and Coulter have been two of McCain’s biggest critics as well, but in Marshalltown, that is probably proof of how brilliant the super-secret McCain-Rove plot really is.  No doubt Ambinder is at least a useful idiot, if not a fellow traveler, for not recognizing this.

But the conspiracy is even larger than that.  It includes NBC News DC Bureau Chief Tim Russert, who asked Obama a debate question on Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.  Sure, Russert was a counsellor to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) and Gov. Mario Cuomo (D-NY), but Rove had the giant seed pod installed in his garden.  Ask “Russert” what he thinks of McCain and he will tell you: “Maverick is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”  Marshall wants you to ignore Obama’s troubling answer to the Farrakhan question and focus on the conspiracy, maaaann.

The Washington Post’s Richard Cohen was troubled over the fact that Obama’s spiritual advisor of 20 years is cozy with Farrakhan.  Slate’s Mickey Kaus has also flagged Obama’s church as problematic.  The Seattle-based alt-weekly The Stranger reports that:

the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., apostle of black liberation theology, delivers magnificently cranky sermons on how the “African diaspora” struggles under the yoke of the “white supremacists” who run the “American empire.”

Perhaps Marshall sees them as fifth columnists with the RightWingNoiseMachine, too.

After all, Obama has said that Wright was “like an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don’t agree with,” which should settle the matter.  Accordingly, we must ignore the fact that — until this issue arose — Obama’s church openly advertised itself as:

Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian… Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization… We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

The church also adopted a “Black Value System,” which includes a disavowal of the pursuit of “middleclassness,” that “must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered.” 

If McCain belonged to a church for 20 years that had the same mission statement, but just for white people, had a pastor who was cozy with David Duke and promoted the White Value System, Marshall — and most Democrats — would see that as an inoffensive expression of community pride, wouldn’t they? 

No, of course they would not.  They would point out that the candidate, having talked about how his faith informs his values, put the issue of that relationship up for public debate.

But Marshall clearly wants to popularize the myth of a vast, racist, right-wing conspiracy, in the hope that the sanction of political correctness will make Obama’s decades-long membership in this sort of group a verboten topic in polite society, and will allow his allies to impute any truly offensive remarks directly to the McCain campaign, regardless of whether there is any real connection between them.  In Marshalltown, McCain must repudiate anyone and any remark deemed offensive, including some D-list radio host, but Obama need not even address those with whom he has spent the last 20 years.

157 Replies to “Election 2008: McCain stole Tim Russert’s Brain! [Karl]”

  1. Carin says:

    Obviously, Karl, you are part of the VRRC-plot. Hater. He’s changy. That’s all that matters.

  2. Dan Collins says:

    I don’t understand all the fuss about Chaka Khan’s endorsement.

  3. JD says:

    At least JMM is up front about his perfidy. He notes right at the beginning that the details and specifics do not matter, which generally means that the details and specifics do not exist, and some moonbat is about to start making shit up.

  4. Eben Flood says:

    It takes a special kind of retard who can ignore the grazing herd of elephants in the room and focus, like a laser beam, on the little rabbit in the corner.

    “Ah,” but he’ll say, “it has big nasty teeth!”

  5. JD says:

    Is the NY Times really questioning whether or not Se. McCain is a natural born US citizen?

  6. Pablo says:

    Don’t insult your intelligence or mine by pretending that John McCain’s plan for this race doesn’t rely on hundreds of Cunninghams — large and small — across the country, and the RNC and all the GOP third party groups, to be peddling this stuff nonstop for the next eight months because it’s the only way John McCain have a real shot at contesting this race.

    I won’t insult Josh’s intelligence if he doesn’t insult my Aboriginal femininity.

    Perhaps my blind spot is a product of my listening to Wagner without knowing German.

    Who wants to explain tunnel vision to Josh? Dude has a blind spot slightly smaller than Stevie Wonder’s. But just to be on the safe side, I condemn and repudiate everything he’s said and/or will say on behalf of all American white guys everywhere.

  7. Pablo says:

    Is the NY Times really questioning whether or not Se. McCain is a natural born US citizen?

    Yes, they are. Because they’re part of the racist Obama conspiracy. Don’t be fooled. We all know who’s behind this.

  8. Alec Leamas says:

    “Don’t insult your intelligence or mine by pretending that John McCain’s plan for this race doesn’t rely on hundreds of Cunninghams — large and small — across the country, and the RNC and all the GOP third party groups, to be peddling this stuff nonstop for the next eight months because it’s the only way John McCain have a real shot at contesting this race.

    If McCain really wants to repudiate this stuff, he can start with the Tennessee Republican party which dished all the slurs and smears about Obama being a Nation of Islam-loving anti-Semite, just today. And once he’s done talking to the people who will be running his Tennessee campaign, we’ll have a number of others he can talk to, like the head of his Ohio campaign, former Sen. Mike DeWine, who gave that Cunningham guy his marching orders.”

    So, the only way he has a “real shot at contesting this race” is by NOT adopting Marshall’s proposed scruples for elections? But he should adopt Marshall’s proposed scruples for elections?

    Marshall really isn’t trying very hard to disguise what he really means. “John McCain should not campaign against Barack Obama and lose by default” is what he seems to be saying.

  9. JD says:

    Folks, we are going to see an absolute shit storm of lying crap weasels this election season. Even with Maverick, a Republican they allegedly respect. All the other Republicans – racist, sexist, blah, blah, blah. Whisper campaigns that only seem to make it to Dem ears. Like IJS’ fable the other day. This is only the prelude.

  10. Alec Leamas says:

    To recap, the narrative is set – if Obama doesn’t win, it is because of racism. Get it, dummies? Accept Chairman Comrade Obama as your dear leader, or you’re a racist.

  11. Mikey NTH says:

    Josh is sounding a little bit desperate there. He is one of those on the left that actually seems to consider how something is going to look and sound to the vast non-politically rabid middle, and I think he is actually worried about some of these things and wants to get ahead of the cycle. Or at least position himself later so that he can say “I told you so!”

  12. The Thin Man says:

    Hey – we should definitely start serving Rove Seed Pod Muffins at the VRWC meetings…Mmmmm mmm those things are delicious!

    (P.S. Tonights VRWC meeting is in back of Tim Russert’s shed at 7:30, but nobody tell Josh Marshall ’cause he’d harsh the buzz)

  13. Education Guy says:

    Democrats can be a funny lot. The man who is most likely to get their nomination for POTUS has a middle name of Hussein, but if you dare to mention this it is proof that you are a racist hater. Do you think they retroactively hate his mother for using that name when little Barry O was in trouble?

  14. Dennis D says:

    I honestly do not see this election as being even close. Obama will win no red states while McCain puts a dozen blue states in play. 2004 New Jersey Kerry had 1.9 Million Votes to Bush 1.6 Million. McCain is the perfect moderate Tom Kean type Repub to win NJ especially in light of anger with NJ Dems and Corzines proposed 800% increase in Road Tolls.

  15. qrstuv says:

    He goes instantly to race and identity politics, as if that is the sum total of the differences between Obama and McCain. He really thinks that flyover country is too stupid to notice any policy differences and cares only about skin color.

    What I don’t get is why Democrats fail to understand that socialism is simply repulsive to a lot of Americans. The more we hear Obama’s ideas, the less appealing he is.

  16. Rob Crawford says:

    Don’t insult your intelligence or mine by pretending that John McCain’s plan for this race doesn’t rely on hundreds of Cunninghams

    As a Cincinnatian, I just want to say this is some scary shit. Hundreds of weak-chinned, shrill Willys running around?

  17. JD says:

    Joshua Micah Marshall – I will gladly step to the plate and insult your intelligence, or lack thereof. You are a gadfly, a gleenwaldian conspiracy theorist given the mantle of credibility due only to longetivity. Your fare is standard leftist boilerplate, no different than Cole, all of the gleens, Saint Sully of the Perpetually Gobsmacked, and the rest of your ilk. You see racism where we see real policy differences. You see a messiah, we see a socialist. You seen an intellectual, we see the figurehead of identity politics and a shiny mirrored sparkly empty suit. And, you have now convinced me to vote for McCain.

  18. thor says:

    Only the semi-annual sale at Men’s Warehouse can attract hundreds of Cunninghams and that ain’t happening for another two months.

  19. Great Banana says:

    I’m not sure why pointing out O’s ties to the racist and anti-semetic Nation of Islam and Farrakan are out-of-bounds, or why highlighting O’s church’s racism would be out-of-bounds. I’m also not sure why stating O’s middle name is out-of-bounds. Sure, his middle name has conotations that are unhelpful to him, but it is his name.

    Moreover, I’m sure the left will be just as appalled when they start attacking McCain’s age and alleged temperment problems.

    The left’s playbook is always the same. Everything the right does is racist, and the left never loses elections based on ideas or character issues, only b/c the right somehow “stole” the election with dirty tricks.

    The funny thing to me is that the left actually believes that they campaign on ideas, when in fact they fear-monger like crazy. they tell black americans that republicans want to return to jim crowe and lynching. they tell woman that republicans want to return to keeping women barefoot and pregnant. they tell old people that republicans want to take away all their social security and medicaid and put them on the street. that is pretty much their entire “issues campaign” every single presidential election.

  20. Ric Locke says:

    Bah. What this is all about is the process called “vetting” — checking the candidate’s background for damaging stuff, things that might indicate unfitness for office or would handicap campaigning.

    DEMOCRATS DON’T DO IT, at least not until too late. They go strictly by appearances and “message”, and select their champions strictly on the basis of hopeyness, changitude, and suitability for appearing on TV. If there are no skeletons in the closet simply because the bodies haven’t decayed that far, it always comes as a complete, gobsmacking surprise.

    Their only hope, then, is to completely ignore the past. The Candidate emerged fully-formed from the brow of Medusa[1], the carefully-managed appearance is the only real TRVTH, and anything from previous geological eras (that is, prior to the beginning of the campaign) is irrelevant, nothing but evil “smears”, to be attacked using the most vicious ad hominems available.

    My post about McCain-as-pilot on the other thread was intended to point out that Republicans appear to be embracing the tactic as well.

    Regards,
    Ric

  21. N. O'Brain says:

    “And, you have now convinced me to vote for McCain.”

    I got a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of this.

  22. happyfeet says:

    Everything’s going to be fine. McCain will be president and by 2010 we’ll have scores of candidates running as being Rs what can stand up to McCain. And the media ain’t getting any fresher.

  23. JD says:

    N.O’Brain – I do not enter into that decision lightly, as I really really really do not like him. A lot. As was said before, if the bus is going over the cliff regardless, I would prefer to have a Dem at the wheel. Having said that, which I still believe, by the way, the absolute inanity spewing forth from the left about the Messiah, and the knob job the MSM is doing on him, is making my stomach turn. There may not be a whole lot of difference between Hill/Bill and Johnny Mac, but there are oceans of differences between Barry O and Johnny Mac. Intolerable difference, not of race, or names, or religion, but of socialism, experience, and just the general moonbattery that spews forth from Barry O and his disciples on a daily basis.

  24. Percy Dovetonsils says:

    “Accept Chairman Comrade Obama as your dear leader, or you’re a racist.”

    Fortunately, being born a white male, I’ve been accused of racism since my mother popped me out. Thus, such accusations have no sting.

  25. Education Guy says:

    I don’t want the bus to go over the cliff, and I sincerely hope that whomever is elected we don’t have to suffer for 4-8 years. I completely disagree with Obama on just about every single policy issue there is and I think John McCain is a horrible political monster who would slit your throat if he felt it served his interests. I will likely have to get very drunk before voting for him, if I do.

    Our choices this year suck, and I can’t really see supporting any of them with my voice or my money. The only thing that is absolutely certain is that I am getting the hell out of DC before any of these people take the oath.

  26. Carin says:

    I will likely have to get very drunk before voting for him, if I do.

    I’m thinking Education Guy is onto something here …

  27. I'm Just Saying says:

    JD, you incontinent cow, I posted two articles verifying the existence of such emails. Today’s AP carries a story about the Obama being forced again to deny the rumors in front of a Jewish group in Cleveland and nationally now also (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080228/ap_on_el_pr/obama_muslim_myth&printer=1)

    I don’t need to make this up; it’s a freaking strategy of Bill Cunninghma and kooks like him.

    As far as Marshall goes, I will wait to judge the McCain campaign on its tactics. One episode does not make a series. It would, however, be fascinating if Johnny Mac could reach down to the Tennessee Republican Party and repudiate their press release…

    Not that press releases from major American political parties slandering Obama and telling everyone he hates Israel are real. I made up that press release two days before happened and got the Tennessee chump Bill Hobbs to past it. I planted those new stories with the AP and the New York Sun and Obama never really had to answer questions from a concerned Jewsih group in Cleveland, JD. I made all that stuff up two days before it happened, because I’m that good.

    Maybe, you and Mr. Marshall should see the same Psychiatrist?

    Here’s the link to Tennessee http://www.tngop.org/wordpress/?p=113

    Jd, do you follow links, or do you just slander without any information?

  28. happyfeet says:

    Well, except for how Obama fucking hates Israel.

  29. I'm Just Saying says:

    One last thing, as has been mentioned a number of times, Pastor Wright of Obama’s church seeks to aid African Americans. You whiteys, my brothers and sister see that as a racial call, when maybe, just maybe, it’s an ethnic call?

    You know, like this bunch a Serbian racists from Indianapolis, who desperately want to support their ethnic identity. I suppose in Karl’s world that means they are terrible? http://www.st-nicholas-indy.org/html/mission.htm

    Oh, dear Lord, these Russians speak of a Russian Diaspora http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/english/pages/firsttier/monasteries.html

    Calls to help one’s community are part and parcel of most Churches (and it’s why they are good for society). To single Obama’s church out because it calls on African Americans to care about each other, when the South side of Chicago is a place in need of community involvement is silly and ridiculous.

    Should the good Reverend applaud Farrakhan for his work with former prisoners? I wouldn’t, but I’m more political than Wright apparently is. There’s a possibility he sees former prisoners getting jobs and place to live as a net good, but that’s the tin ear those Christians often turn to really important issues, like slandering US Senators with guilt by association. Maybe, we can find out who Barack’s third cousin is and why he one time said Nancy Reagan looked fat in a dress.

    Those are important issues and I am greatly afraid Obama will name his minister VP or even Secretary of State. I know I ALWAYS agree with what my minister says. Every time.

  30. Pablo says:

    IJS, what exactly do you take issue with in the Tennessee item? Is it just the use of “Hussein” or is there something more in there that you find unethical? And where exactly does it say that Obama hates Israel? Since when is it problematic to note who one’s supporters are?

    You’re familiar with this whole politics thing, aren’t you?

  31. Pablo says:

    Calls to help one’s community are part and parcel of most Churches (and it’s why they are good for society)

    As long as your community isn’t white, straight, etc…

  32. happyfeet says:

    And then there’s the deal where Barack Hussein just fucking hates Israel.

  33. Al Maviva says:

    Hey, here’s another conspiracy theory for you.

    What about if the vast, vast majority of conservatives didn’t give a flying fuck at a rolling donut about Obama’s race, or his father’s religion. Let’s say we get together a bunch of liberal journalists and bloggers, and we’ll do a bunch of stories saying, “the absence of racially-based attacks on Obama is proof that the Republican opposition to him is built around Republican racism.” You know, really flood the zone. That way, the more the Republicans protest that they aren’t racist, don’t care about Obama’s background, the more we can right stories going, “Aha! We predicted they’d deny their vast racist conspiracy, because denying the existence of a vast racist conspiracy is just like what a vast racist conspiracy would do, and furthermore, all the Republicans can do is talk about all these allegations about a vast racist conspiracy… frankly, I think they’re obsessed with Obama’s race. Do you know he’s black? Well, he is.”

    Yeah, what if you had a conspiracy pushing that teh narruhtive?

    Naaah. It’d never work. Liberals would never be smart enough to figure out a jujitsu method of inserting race into a campaign that isn’t really about race… You’d have to be crazy to imagine conspiracies that aren’t there, and take a lack of evidence as proof of the conspiracies…

  34. Karl says:

    IJS,

    If you bothered to read the post and follow the links, you would find that McCain did condemn the TN GOP release.

    Also, if you think Serbian ethnic politics is so great, you might want to visit the Balkans. As for the ethnic/racial distinction, I note that Obama’s church has not been very careful about maintaining it — they did not claim to be “unapolgetically African.” Perhaps that’s because Africans are hardly monolithic and harmonious. On that point, you might want to visit Rwanda, Sudan, etc.

    Finally, the fact that you disdain the slandering of a US Senator with guilt by association in the same post where you reserve the right to do it to McCain merely proves the point of the post. So thanks.

  35. Carin says:

    Calls to help one’s community are part and parcel of most Churches (and it’s why they are good for society)

    My church calls its followers to help the World community. During lent, we fed the homeless in Downtown Detroit. Few of which appeared to be like me – Catholic and/or white.

    And, I’m almost positive my church hasn’t admonished me to not become part of the middle class. Is that some code word for acting white?

  36. Ric Locke says:

    Balls, IJS.

    It was you and your buddies who established the principle that if a nutcase endorses a candidate it must (can only be) because the said candidate supports the nutcase’s program in its entirety, and if the candidate accepts the support that is proof positive. If a right-wing evangelical votes for a Republican and the Republican doesn’t tell him to f* off and die, clearly the Republican intends to ESTABLISH TEH THEOCRACY AND PADLOCK ALL THE VAGINAS, and you are authorized any tactic, from innuendo through forgery to outright lying in public, to counteract that.

    Now it’s being used against you, and you’re screaming like a hamster in an eagle’s beak. It turns out that politics is transitive and commutative, and this comes as an unwelcome surprise to you. My heart bleeds.

    Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam are an American phenomenon, but they borrow their ideology from a mishmash of Moslem concepts, with “Destroy Israel!” and “kill the dirty Jews!” as fundamental. By the rules you established that means Barack Obama feels the same way, and anything we can do to establish and emphasize that is fair tactics. You not only made the bed, you chose the linens and the mattress. Sleep well.

    Regards,
    Ric

  37. daleyrocks says:

    Hypocrisy – It’s what IJS is eating for lunch today.

  38. MarkD says:

    Well, I hoped that someone would come up with a reason to vote for Obama, but I haven’t seen one yet. I also hoped I would have the winning numbers in the lottery, but that’s not working for me either.

  39. I'm Just Saying says:

    Carin, nice work on the actions; sad work on the logic. First, did I say all churches have ethnic pride pitches? No. Secondly, aren’t you from Detroit? Helping your community means you helped your community. Isn’t that what churches, including Wright’s do.

    Frankly, y’all sound like Sean Hannity to me, since he’s been droning on about this for months.

    But Greenwald provides (shame on the messenger) to the necessary links to “bigot” who supports McCain. I’m sure you all will share your outrage toward the black guy and his “terrible” beliefs with the white guy from Texas and his “terrible” beliefs. I mean, you’re all consistent, right? Or, is that the hobgoblin of a small mind?

    I would link to Greenwald, but I know you would only follow that link if Karl, Dan or Jeff recommended (kill the messenger and all). So, here’s a list of the “good” pastor’s statements and John McCain’s.

    Yesterday, though, the equally fringe, radical and hateful (at least) Rev. John Hagee — a white evangelical who is the pastor of a sprawling “mega-church” in Texas — enthusiastically endorsed John McCain. Did McCain have to jump through the same hoops which Russert and others set up for Obama and “denounce” Hagee’s extremism and “reject” his support? No; quite the opposite. McCain said he was “very honored” to receive this endorsement and, when asked about some of Hagee’s more twisted views, responded: “all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee’s support.”

    Here is just a small sampling of the belief system of this welcomed McCain supporter:

    * All Muslims are programmed to kill and we can thus never negotiate with any of them. From an NPR interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in 2006:

    TG: If you use the Bible as the basis for policy, is there any room for compromise? And if you use the bible as the basis for policy, should Muslims use the Koran as the basis for their policy, and then again, what possible basis is there for compromise at that point?

    JH: There is really no room for compromise between radical Islam —

    TG: I’m not talking about radical Islam. I’m just talking about Islam in general.

    JH: Well Islam in general — those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.

    * God caused Hurricane Katrina to wipe out New Orleans because it had a gay pride parade the week before and was filled with sexual sin. From the same interview:

    JH: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that.

    The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades.

    So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.

    * The End Times — Rapture — is imminent and the U.S. Government must do what it can to hasten it, which at minimum requires: (a) a war with Iran and (b) undying, absolute support for a unified Israel, including all Occupied Territories. From Christian Palestinian Daoud Kuttab in The New York Times (h/t PZ Meyers):

    A small minority of evangelical Christians have entered the Middle East political arena with some of the most un-Christian statements I have ever heard. . . . [Rev.] Hagee, a popular televangelist who leads the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, ratcheted up his rhetoric this year with the publication of his book, “Jerusalem Countdown,” in which he argues that a confrontation with Iran is a necessary precondition for Armageddon (which will mean the death of most Jews, in his eyes) and the Second Coming of Christ. In the best-selling book, Hagee insists that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West.”

    WOW, sounds like the Tennessee Reoublican party’s concern for Israel is misplaced! This is the “dangerous” guy.

    It’s been fun, folks, except for JD, but I need to go work now (my lord’s work is never done). I’m sure Karl will continue the slanders toward churches, but IT was a nice discussion.

  40. MayBee says:

    Tennessee…Tennessee…Oh! Isn’t that the state that proved how racist it was by having an ad with a chick saying “call me” to Harold Ford? That was an outrage, wasn’t it? I’m sure Obama girl thought it was horrible.

    Has Josh Marshall ever called on Obama to repudiate the DailyKos website?

  41. Ric Locke says:

    Why thank you, IJS. I couldn’t ask for better anecdotal support of my thesis.

    Briefly: Hagee is a nutcase with some hateful notions. Hagee supports McCain, and McCain didn’t send out hit squads to prevent that; therefore McCain endorses Hagee’s nuttery. Democrats are authorized any methods, up to and including full-bore slander, to offset that.

    Or, alternatively: Wright is a nutcase with some hateful notions. Wright supports Obama, and Obama didn’t send out hit squads to prevent that; therefore Obama supports Wright’s nuttery. Republicans are authorized any methods, up to and including full-bore slander, to offset that.

    Comfy? Pillow soft enough?

    Regards,
    Ric

  42. Carin says:

    Carin, nice work on the actions; sad work on the logic. First, did I say all churches have ethnic pride pitches? No. Secondly, aren’t you from Detroit? Helping your community means you helped your community. Isn’t that what churches, including Wright’s do.

    Detroit is a rather big place. No homeless in my hood. I had to drive 20 minuets – so it wasn’t really “my community.” We helped the needy, and the needy happened to be across town, so that’s were we went. The difference, though, is that we place no parameters on who we help. Don’t gotta be black, white, religious or even LIVE in our community. You just have to have need.

    Some people would say that “black churches” are simply reverse racism. The fight used to be for black inclusion. Now, it’s perfectly OK to have all-black institutions. I’ve been to an all-black church when a neighbor died. Can’t say I felt very welcome.

  43. Carin says:

    Wait, Hagee is McCain’s minister? Did they pray together the night before McCain announced he was running for office? Oh, this is bad ….

  44. Dan Collins says:

    Wait a minuet, Carin . . .

  45. JD says:

    IJS – You ignorant slut. I am going to assume that you did not sleep well, and your sleep deprivation led to your inability to grasp simple concepts, and made you completely impervious to the facts as laid out.

  46. Karl says:

    Having written directly to IJS that he was proving the very double-standard that was the subject of the post, IJS asserts the double-standard again, this time with more details. Then after a lengthy discussion of Hagee, accuses me of slandering churches.

    Sharp as a butter-knife.

  47. Education Guy says:

    I’m sure, since we now seem to be requiring it, that Obama will be condemning this statement by Dean on Tuesday.

    The Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and former Governor of Vermont contrasted the two parties’ presidential candidates, saying that with a woman and an African-American as the two front-runners, the Democratic field “looks like America,” while the all-white male Republican field “looks like the 1950s and talks like the 1850s.”

    Which is sure to delight the Obama camp who claims to wish to end the divisiveness in American politics.

  48. JD says:

    Who the fuck is Hagee, and why should I give a flying fuck what he has to say? In what way is he related to McCain? You really are an insufferable prick, when you aren’t being an ignorant slut. Nothing like whining about a double standard while doubling down on your own use of same …

  49. Education Guy says:

    Now that I think about it, since I am a Republican I should condemn my own condemnation of Dean as being likely racist.

    Sorry.

  50. happyfeet says:

    The whole point is it’s sad how much Barack burns with the Jew hate. What a horrible tragedy his election would be.

  51. Sean M. says:

    As a registered member of the GOP since the day I turned 18, I’ll just go ahead and condemn everything I’ve ever said and thought since that fateful day. BECAUSE OF TEH INHERENT RACISM!!!1!one!1!!

  52. JD says:

    And just in case IJS misses the point again, I denounce it. And I denounce EG’s denunciation of his denunciation. hodean is a tool and his inanity should be spread far and wide.

  53. happyfeet says:

    Baracky is the guy who said right out loud he would be cool with genocide in Iraq, so it’s not like we don’t know how dire it is when he surrounds himself with the Jew hatred. Scary shit, really.

  54. Ric Locke says:

    Bah.

    I can’t sing, dance, or play a musical instrument, so when I was a boy my entry in the Talent Show was as a stage magician. The most important technique for that profession is misdirection. If you can distract ’em with brightly-colored scarves, squibs, and continuous patter, they’ll never see you stuff the rabbit up your sleeve.

    That’s what IJS is up to, and what Marshall, Iglesias, et. al. will be doing for the near future. They’re going to be throwing up bright sparks of innuendo and occasional truths, depicting McCain’s supporters as Instruments of the Theocracy. Avaunt! Avaunt! Anathema! The very concept of using the very same tactics, indeed the very same rumors, innuendo, and character assassination with the proper nouns swapped out by cut-and-paste, against them will raise them to tooth-grinding fury.

    Fun to watch. Keep up the pressure.

    Regards,
    Ric

  55. Education Guy says:

    The good news for us right-leaners (read patriarchal mouthbreathing godbotherers) is that we can make up for our inherent racism, sexism and class warfare by voting for Obama. It’s win-win.

    Well, really more of a win-still be considered sub-human scum by our leftist betters, but the healing has to start somewhere.

  56. Education Guy says:

    JD, I condemn you as being improperly unrepentant. And possibly drunk.

    You global warmer you!

  57. psycho... says:

    As a “Never attribute to stupidity that which can be adequately explained by malice” type, I resist the idea, but McCain and the RNC and their spinners on the intertubes might actually be stupid.

    How could they not know that regardless of their displays of solidarity against the rubes, what Marshall is saying would be the press-hivemind undercurrent to any coverage of any such event (this is the netroots’ success — to shake that hive a certain way), and that they can only annoy (and depress) their own voters with their above-it-all (i.e., above-them) bullshit?

    Instinctively, I’d say that this is their chosen style of losing big, because know they can’t win, and they never really wanted to anyway, because they know better than to care who’s President; that’s not their real business. (Etc.) But I’m starting to think they’ve fooled themselves into believing they have a chance, and that this — shitting on their dwindling base for press approval and Beltway backpats — is how to take it.

    Idiots. …if so.

    (Belated congratulations to Jon Stewart for his “Gaydolf Titler” joke, which is the only almost-funny thing he’s said in over a decade, and highlights the theme of this election: unspeakable open secrets. Who wins will be has been decided by which candidate is most forbidden to be talked about.)

  58. JD says:

    improperly repentant – check
    drunk – not in over 4 years, but a Barry O election might change things.

  59. Alec Leamas says:

    “Fortunately, being born a white male, I’ve been accused of racism since my mother popped me out. Thus, such accusations have no sting.”

    Yeah, you really just have to embrace it and make it your own.

  60. Ted Nugent's Soul Patch says:

    “It’s been fun, folks, except for JD, but I need to go work now (my lord’s work is never done). ”

    Most people don’t consider “begging on a street corner” to be work.

  61. Education Guy says:

    drunk – not in over 4 years

    Crap, I forgot. Sorry man, if it wasn’t for Bush and this damned war I would have remembered.

  62. JD says:

    EG – No need to apologize. I am comfortable assuming good intentions on your behalf. IJS, timmah, caric and the like, not so much.

  63. Ted Nugent's Soul Patch says:

    “Having written directly to IJS that he was proving the very double-standard that was the subject of the post, IJS asserts the double-standard again, this time with more details. Then after a lengthy discussion of Hagee, accuses me of slandering churches.”

    You have to be impressed by someone who completely ignores the fact that his meaningless innuendos and stunted logic was addressed, and goes right back to repeating the same nonsense as if nothing happened. The guy’s like Rain Man without the charm or wicked mathematical skills.

  64. David R. Block says:

    Hagee is a minister in San Antonio TEXAS, not McCain’s ARIZONA. His pastor? Well, he could watch on TV on TBN or something, but otherwise that’s one LONG Sunday morning drive to get to church.

  65. JD says:

    David – Loonwaffly moonbats like IJS are impervious to facts.

  66. Cowboy says:

    Damn, JD, how can I get an absolute tool like IJS to hate me like he does you?

  67. mojo says:

    Hey – if it WALKS like a NOI-loving, ant-semitic glad-handing crooked pol from the heart of the Chicago Machine and it TALKS like a NOI-loving, ant-semitic glad-handing crooked pol from the heart of the Chicago Machine…

  68. JD says:

    Cowboy – I am not sure exactly what I did, but I sure do enjoy it.

  69. […] I noted Josh Marshall’s effort to impose a double-standard on the campaign under which John McCain must ritualistically repudiate […]

  70. cynn says:

    I sure hope this mutual insipid crap-slinging isn’t going to be the tenor of this campaign. Trying to color (heh) Obama as a muslimist Jew hater is as stupid as dragging McCain through the mud by repurposing a bunch of innuendo. And this guilt by association is ridiculous as well. What do a candidate’s endorsers tell me about the candidate him or herself? They inform nothing, really. I will continue to ignore these disgusting tactics; it’s like middle school whisper campaigns.

    I am awaiting substantive enlightenment on specific policies and action plans — crickets so far.

  71. Carin says:

    A candidates endorser doesn’t say that much. But his spiritual advisor? Perhaps a bit more.

    But, honestly, I don’t need to go there to disagree with Obama. There are so many other ripe pickins.

  72. Obstreperous Infidel says:

    Really. The middle name means absolutely nothing to me as well. The fact that he is a socialist is the troubling thing. But, I’m not voting for the guy anyhow.

  73. qrstuv says:

    Cynn, then you haven’t been paying a whole lot of attention, have you?

    Here are some of Obama’s bright ideas:
    * Rethink NAFTA (Ah, Canada, Mexico — we didn’t really mean it.)
    * Unilaterally stop building nuclear weapons (to set a good example for nice dictators to follow! If only we are nice enough.)
    * Openly perform military operations in Pakistan, whether the Pakistani government agrees or not (thus ensuring that Pakistan ceases being an ally of any kind)
    * Invest in “climate-friendly” energy development and deployment (saving the world!!!)
    * Spend a lot of money “creating” jobs that somehow private industry cannot create (it’s better when government does it)

    Need I go on?

    Yet boneheads like Josh Marshall think it’s all about the skin color.

    It’s the philosophy, stupid.

  74. cynn says:

    What color does my skin have to be to make all of the above happen?

  75. GeoW says:

    And when McCain does repudiate some jerk, he is also depicted as cranky for doing so, even said with a chuckle. As it was last nite on Anderson Cooper, by David Gergen. Let’s get Grandpa mad and watch him try to hit us with his cane!

  76. happyfeet says:

    McCain can’t help his age anymore than Baracky can help his middle name. Which, it’s Hussein, what I hear.

  77. thor says:

    Comment by cynn on 2/28 @ 10:29 pm #

    What color does my skin have to be to make all of the above happen?

    The color of your skin, cynn, has to be black. I see you noting that I’m not partaking in this demeaning of Barack fun. And I hope you’re black. Know why Cynn, because I’m white. That’s right. Together we can ethnically engineer a whole platoon of our own Baracks. We’ll work hard by day and make Baracks (cue Barry White song now) all night long.

    Living just enough for the city, yeah. I’ll douse your eggs because together, yes we can.

    Btw, if you’re white, keep it real, you got no chance with thor.

  78. Pablo says:

    Ahhhh…young love is in the air. There’s new hope for change!

    Hey, is that you, Stephen?

  79. nishizonoshinji says:

    A small minority of evangelical Christians have entered the Middle East political arena with some of the most un-Christian statements I have ever heard. . . . [Rev.] Hagee, a popular televangelist

    not a small minority, no.
    over 75 million sold
    euwwww…
    a childrens series targetting 10-14 year olds?
    does anyone else find that sort of creepy?

  80. Pablo says:

    No, I find this creepy.

  81. […] of last year — but thanks to McCain’s Hagee-related jerkiness and the left’s highly nuanced dudgeon about it, everything old is new again. “Say, big A, doesn’t that make this a tu quoque?” […]

  82. […] Obama doesn’t have supporters. Obama has worshipers. They’re not paying any more attention to his “issues” than Rogers claims his critics are. Criticizing President Obama wouldn’t be mere treason (perfectly understandable when it’s The Bushitler under attack), it would be heresy. […]

  83. Daryl Herbert says:

    I’m against Black pursuit of middle-classedness, too.

    A Black nationalist? Oh, no, you’ve got me all wrong. I’m a Klansman!

    No Black middle class! No Black middle class!

    (sarcasm)

  84. Plumb Bob says:

    We can see Obama’s strategy coming through loud and clear here, as well. “Any plausibly racist criticism about Obama immediately taints all criticism of him. Once he’s been called “Hussein,” or had his race mentioned, or his church has even brought up, from that point forward, EVERY criticism of him is part of the vicious, racist, slander machine.

    It certainly is intellectually stimulating, debating liberal Democrats…

    (Unrelated to this topic, please visit my political blog, “Plumb Bob Blog: Squaring the Culture,” at http://www.plumbbobblog.com. Thanks.)

  85. […] on Powers’s side on this one. The guilt-by-association game has gotten tiresome, with Josh Marshall’s attempt to hold McCain responsible for every objectionable word uttered by a conservative being the most […]

  86. […] on Powers’s side on this one. The guilt-by-association game has gotten tiresome, with Josh Marshall’s attempt to hold McCain responsible for every objectionable word uttered by a conservative being the most […]

  87. […] crackpot thing ever said by an evangelical preacher. (McCain’s already on the hook for every crackpot utterance by talk radio hosts, whether he denounces them or not.) Consider this preemptive damage […]

  88. […] for Truth ”freaks” says as more about Martin than those he attacks.  TPM’s Josh Marshall would call it “multiple distribution channels.”  The Willie Horton story is a prior […]

  89. […] when it comes to McCain’s hawkishness, his temper (he’ll push the button!), his supposed racial politics, etc. That’s fine; politics ain’t beanbag. What’s objectionable […]

  90. zanussi says:

    В нынешней ситуации большинство тем отходят на второй план. Интересно, как мы будем жить, если доллар рухнет?

  91. saunypon says:

    Как дела обстоят с увольнениями в условиях кризиса? И реально ли в условиях кризиса найти работу?

  92. спасибо очень интересный сайт

  93. experaves says:

    узнал много нового тут

  94. Usedesdargo says:

    замечательно

  95. pypeVipsy says:

    сколько банков еще лопнет в течение кризиса?

  96. CideDyepisp says:

    странно, где то это я уже видел

  97. почему в нынешние времена поэзия не популярна?

  98. GortUrgerge says:

    спасибо за интересный сайт

  99. emizanimica says:

    всех с весной

  100. где держать деньги во время кризиса?

  101. Всякая небылица в три года пригодится.

  102. immigmape says:

    Пророк Илья лето кончает, жито зажинает. Первый сноп, первый осенний

  103. приданое.

  104. Отложи шашки да примись за пашню.

  105. спущу его на воду.

  106. fessAlose says:

    Мартына лисогона.

  107. wermweisa says:

    Живой без сапог обойдется, а мертвый без гроба не обойдется.

  108. enzygiesy says:

    Встреча осени. Осенины.

  109. appeluppy says:

    #ЦВЕТ – МАСТЬ

  110. Не выливай помоев, не подготовив чистой воды!

  111. Attensenavy says:

    Не дай бог с казною связаться!

  112. Geogleceige says:

    Пара не пара, марьяж дорогой.

  113. Agripsypype says:

    Кто больше знает, тому и книги в руки.

  114. ensubyheaby says:

    Всякую посуду покрывать, хоть лучинкой, чтоб бес не вселился.

  115. eneseakesed says:

    Горькие похороны, когда жена мужа хоронит.

  116. Год – не неделя, покров – не теперя, до Петрова дня – не два дня.

  117. Блюди хлеба до обеда, а слово до ответа!

  118. Одной шапкой двоих накрыл.

  119. edubreber says:

    Матери хотелось, чтобы у сына была голова только черненька, а он

  120. AgrimArdy says:

    Калмыцкую лошадь один только калмык и переупрямит.

  121. Obeflybrevy says:

    Суди меня бог да государь! Суди бог да великий государь!

  122. Хороша служба за друга – да друг-то каков?

  123. sizTessvemy says:

    Спиться с кругу; пить мертвую, непробудную, непросыпную чашу.

  124. unlituelp says:

    Вахромей, разумей: кого корят, а тебе в глаза говорят.

  125. В очью назло делает. Пальцем тычет, словом притыкает.

  126. Купить на сто рублей сто скотин, платить – и по десяти рублей за одну,

  127. Vestdinsbes says:

    Напекла, наварила, хоть отца с матерью жени.

  128. Weanynchava says:

    Фабричный столичный: проведет и выведет.

  129. incuccecefs says:

    тартарары провалиться. Детей своих бы не видать. Весь живот прах возьми.

  130. dreavyjeora says:

    зацепят).

  131. ZinedierLip says:

    Воровство да разум: на час ума не стало – до веку дураком прослыл; раз

  132. коли ест хорошо всякую пищу – родится мальчик; если же охотно слушает

  133. taippisee says:

    Богатому старость, а убогому радость.

  134. maildadvila says:

    Люди солгали, да и мы правды не сказали.

  135. Reogneexy says:

    Пусти бабу в рай: она и корову за собой ведет.

  136. Mododilkics says:

    Кто, пообедав и перекрестясь, опять сядет есть, у того крестники мрут.

  137. AssonUtence says:

    Без счастья и в лес по грибы не ходи!

  138. Nilkillidge says:

    Не всякий умирает, кто хворает.

  139. ей рыло).

  140. Неправедно пришло, неправедно и ушло.

  141. floutouhhaf says:

    Слепой и в горшке дороги не найдет.

  142. Prielmili says:

    Старица Софья о всем мире сохнет, никто об ней не взд’охнет.

  143. Rogassaug says:

    Наверняка только обухом бьют, да и то промах живет.

  144. aquapseleta says:

    одного.

  145. Dayncchonee says:

    Вольному (казенному) просторнее, барскому спокойнее (жить).

  146. Вози навоз, не ленись, так хоть богу не молись.

  147. Lickmoibiak says:

    При попе по попе, а без попа на попа (чистоговорка).

  148. (казачья; вдоль ратовища кладется лезвие).

  149. sanoskashew says:

    Мы с моим другом живем вместе уже 3 года в гражданском браке. Когда я раньше заговаривала о свадьбе, он все время отшучивался, что, мол, не время пока и Ñ‚.д. А сейчас появился прекрасный повод – кризис! А ведь мне уже 30 лет и детей хочется! Как быть, посоветуйте?


    http://www.vodakavkaza.ru/89.html


    http://www.vodakavkaza.ru/48.html

  150. Didobloow says:

    По нашей семье кризис ударил неожиданным образом. Финансово он нас пока не затронул (тьфу-тьфу), но выбил из колеи мою свекровь, которую я люблю – подчеркиваю! Мы – не миллионеры, но и не совсем бедные, у мужа маленький но вполне успешный (еще раз тьфу-тьфу) бизнес, и мы с удовольствием обеспечиваем всем необходимым и не необходимым тоже нашу маму (мою свекровь). Так вот она неожиданно вбила себе в голову, что ее сын непременно разорится и ей придется влачить жалкое существование. Теперь звонит по 5 раз в день рыдает в трубку, я ее как могу успокаиваю. Но получается плохо. Помогите, пожалуйста, как ее успокоить.

  151. Toorestep says:

    Вчера муж мой пришел с работы чернее ночи, и дико радовался, что сходил в отпуск им зарплату урезали конкретно мало того, что рабочая неделя у них 3 дня всего, так еще все надбавки сняли и помощь к отпуску (а муж успел ее получить, слава богу), так еще сказали что может скоро они и в оставшиеся рабочие дни на 3/4 выходить будут, а парадокс в том что начальство как работало полную неделю так и оклады у них не урезали, отыгрались на рабочих теперь от туда народ толпами валит кто куда. А я уволенная сейчас. Как пережить кризис молодой паре? Посоветуйте.


    http://www.allhoroscope.ru/49.html


    http://www.allhoroscope.ru/3.html

  152. BeiliaNix says:

    Каким бизнесом лучше заняться во время кризиса? Есть идеи, есть деньги около 1000 евро и есть страх перед неизвестностью, да и честно говоря, идеи, на мой взгляд какие то не те, хочется чего- то реального, что бы не прогореть, кризис понимаете? :-)


    http://www.astrologic-cafe.ru/11.html


    http://www.astrologic-cafe.ru/35.html

  153. Добрый день, так получилось, что я заканчиваю учебу в вузе как раз в самый разгар кризиса. Таким образом, обычный страх перед будущим помимо прочего усугубляется этой всеобщей паникой. Посоветуйте, как лучше мобилизоваться, перешагнуть через неуверенность в собственных силах и двигаться дальше?


    http://www.depositvklad.ru/8.html


    http://www.depositvklad.ru/4.html

  154. Amastpreame says:

    Муж с головой погрузился в работу, и перестал меня замечать, как будто я предмет интерьера. Между нами растет стена отчуждения. Мы живем вместе 14 лет. Сейчас муж пишет докторскую диссертацию. Он приходит с работы поздно, и мы почти не разговариваем. Я теряюсь в догадках, то ли он в институте задерживается, то ли у него появилась другая женщина. Не думаю, что он способен оставить семью, тем более что у нас двое детей. Но чувствую, как день ото дня мое настроение падает, буквально опускаются руки. Что вы посоветуете в этой ситуации?

  155. Shahgreak says:

    Неужели финансовый кризис, особенно касательно недвижимости настолько ужасен? как вы относитесь к предсказаниям Хазина?


    http://www.lekrastenia.ru/54.html


    http://www.lekrastenia.ru/56.html

  156. viedallewly says:

    У нас в Испании просто ужас! иностранцев в первую очередь выгоняют с работы,много магазинов и фабрик закрывается – людей на улицы!покупательская способность упала,если народ не покупает всё остальное банкротится и опять марш на улицу! денег нет платить за ипотеку,строительные фирмы банкротятся,а значит нет работы строителям и Ñ‚.д. по цепочке вплоть до их кормящих в кафешках поваров..Крестьяне вырашивающие овощи работают много а покупают перекупщики овощи за копейки, многие бросают теплицы…и такая фигня во всех сферах. А как у вас в России, думаю, может вернуться на родину?


    http://www.magic-cafe.ru/67.html


    http://www.magic-cafe.ru/78.html

Comments are closed.