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Astroturfing 101: Or, “we can’t really count on the little guy to speak for us, so we’ll invent our own simulacrum and then control the script. It’s, like, grassroots activism — without all the muss and fuss of candor!”

Jawa is on the story — a long and drawn out bit of research in which he names names and connects dots.

Unsurprisingly, it looks like the Obama campaign, in addition to using Nixonian-type plumbers, has followed its lead in a “dirty tricks” strategy perfected by Don Segretti of C.R.E.E.P. (nb: as the Jawa story makes clear, this was not only known, but it was heartily supported by members of the Kos community: the ends justify the means, you see, and the greater good must win out, even if the “greater” part has to be manipulated electorally).

— Which, is it me, or is it beginning to look like the “change” Obama’s been on about has really kind of a retro vibe: you know, warmed over policies from McCarthy and McGovern, coupled with the “ratfucking” strategies of the Nixon campaign?

Because if so, cool. I dig Bread and early Zeppelin. And “Room 222.”

But you have to admit, it’s like we’ve found ourselves in 1972 all over again. Luckily for me, I mothballed my bellbottoms and my Gallery albums. And I think I still have a few tabs in the back of my freezer, just in case re-runs of “Lancelot Link” start showing up on TVLand. Still, what are the kids going to do?

Has nobody thought about the children…?

****
update:: More hope and change! Let the coverups begin!

318 Replies to “Astroturfing 101: Or, “we can’t really count on the little guy to speak for us, so we’ll invent our own simulacrum and then control the script. It’s, like, grassroots activism — without all the muss and fuss of candor!””

  1. Mr. Pink says:

    You might want to add in segregationist era racial ploys ie. his McCain Limbaugh Spanish add. Benny Hill and The Honeymooners along with those Lancelot Link reruns.

  2. shea versnatch says:

    Gallery had more than one album?

  3. SarahW says:

    Lancelot Link.

    Well, there’s that.

  4. Hadlowe says:

    Mikey NTH brought up the NYTimes v. Sullivan standard for libel against public figures some time ago. The standard doesn’t protect against knowingly producing false material or not caring whether the information is false. In this case, the Winners may have subjected their parent corporation to civil liability for publication of false material. One way to get the truth out is during discovery of civil litigation. I’m sure there are some Republican attorneys itching to go after this if the justice department attorneys are too far in the tank for Obama.

  5. Lancelot Link

    RACIST!!!

  6. SarahW says:

    And Lily Tomlin, too:

    “no matter how cynical I get, it’s impossible to keep up”

  7. Mikey NTH says:

    Bringing together the worst of the last forty years of American politics.

    That is some change, alright…

    And yeah, the discovery process can be like having a colonoscopy performed with the Mt. Palomar telescope.

    NTTAWWT.

  8. Dave E. says:

    Huh. I guess I should have hung on to those 8-tracks.

  9. quellcrist falconer says:

    kinda says it all.

    Then came Palin’s first television interview with Charles Gibson. I was relieved to discover, as many were, that Palin’s luster can be much diminished by the absence of a teleprompter. Still, the problem she poses to our political process is now much bigger than she is. Her fans seem inclined to forgive her any indiscretion short of cannibalism. However badly she may stumble during the remaining weeks of this campaign, her supporters will focus their outrage upon the journalist who caused her to break stride, upon the camera operator who happened to capture her fall, upon the television network that broadcast the good lady’s misfortune—and, above all, upon the “liberal elites” with their highfalutin assumption that, in the 21st century, only a reasonably well-educated person should be given command of our nuclear arsenal.

    The point to be lamented is not that Sarah Palin comes from outside Washington, or that she has glimpsed so little of the earth’s surface (she didn’t have a passport until last year), or that she’s never met a foreign head of state. The point is that she comes to us, seeking the second most important job in the world, without any intellectual training relevant to the challenges and responsibilities that await her. There is nothing to suggest that she even sees a role for careful analysis or a deep understanding of world events when it comes to deciding the fate of a nation. In her interview with Gibson, Palin managed to turn a joke about seeing Russia from her window into a straight-faced claim that Alaska’s geographical proximity to Russia gave her some essential foreign-policy experience. Palin may be a perfectly wonderful person, a loving mother and a great American success story—but she is a beauty queen/sports reporter who stumbled into small-town politics, and who is now on the verge of stumbling into, or upon, world history.</blockquote

  10. David R. Block says:

    Tab in the freezer?? Those should have SO exploded by now, dude.

  11. quellcrist falconer says:

    and….

    I care even more about the many things Palin thinks she knows but doesn’t: like her conviction that the Biblical God consciously directs world events. Needless to say, she shares this belief with mil-lions of Americans—but we shouldn’t be eager to give these people our nuclear codes, either. There is no question that if President McCain chokes on a spare rib and Palin becomes the first woman president, she and her supporters will believe that God, in all his majesty and wisdom, has brought it to pass. Why would God give Sarah Palin a job she isn’t ready for? He wouldn’t. Everything happens for a reason. Palin seems perfectly willing to stake the welfare of our country—even the welfare of our species—as collateral in her own personal journey of faith. Of course, McCain has made the same unconscionable wager on his personal journey to the White House.

    In speaking before her church about her son going to war in Iraq, Palin urged the congregation to pray “that our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God; that’s what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan, and that plan is God’s plan.” When asked about these remarks in her interview with Gibson, Palin successfully dodged the issue of her religious beliefs by claiming that she had been merely echoing the words of Abraham Lincoln. The New York Times later dubbed her response “absurd.” It was worse than absurd; it was a lie calculated to conceal the true character of her religious infatuations. Every detail that has emerged about Palin’s life in Alaska suggests that she is as devout and literal-minded in her Christian dogmatism as any man or woman in the land. Given her long affiliation with the Assemblies of God church, Palin very likely believes that Biblical prophecy is an infallible guide to future events and that we are living in the “end times.” Which is to say she very likely thinks that human history will soon unravel in a foreordained cataclysm of war and bad weather. Undoubtedly Palin believes that this will be a good thing—as all true Christians will be lifted bodily into the sky to make merry with Jesus, while all nonbelievers, Jews, Methodists and other rabble will be punished for eternity in a lake of fire. Like many Pentecostals, Palin may even imagine that she and her fellow parishioners enjoy the power of prophecy themselves. Otherwise, what could she have meant when declaring to her congregation that “God’s going to tell you what is going on, and what is going to go on, and you guys are going to have that within you”?

  12. Mr. Pink says:

    Nishi can you just find a way to post a picture of human feces in the comment box?

  13. McGehee says:

    Does Newsreek know you’re posting whole tracts of their copyrighted material all over the web, nishtoon?

  14. quellcrist falconer says:

    that the media is “against” Palin is simple spin.
    Team McCain can’t afford to have Palin try to answer questions, so they spin that the media “is out to get Palin”.
    In truth, Palin is inaccessible to the media, leaving the media free to speculate resentfully about Palin in a vacumn devoid of information.
    Let us “pray” that the real vacumn isnt actually (as i suspect), between Palin’s ears.

  15. David R. Block says:

    That the media is against Palin is the simple truth. Sorry you can’t grasp it.

  16. quellcrist falconer says:

    The Washington Post editorialized yesterday about this, writing that “McCain’s selection of an inexperienced and relatively unknown figure was unsettling, and the campaign’s decision to keep her sequestered from serious interchanges with reporters and voters serves only to deepen the unease. Mr. McCain is entitled to choose the person he thinks would be best for the job. He is not entitled to keep the public from being able to make an informed assessment of that judgment. Ms. Palin’s speech-making skills are impressive, but the more she repeats the same stump speech lines, the queasier we get. Nor have her answers to the gentle questioning she has encountered provided any confidence that Ms. Palin has a grasp of the issues.”

  17. McGehee says:

    The vacuum, dear nishtoon, is between your ears.

  18. quellcrist falconer says:

    That the media is against Palin is the simple truth.

    false
    the myth that “the media is against Palin” is simply a way keeping Palin from answering questions from reporters and from the electorate.

  19. Dave E. says:

    Or…

    Sen. Obama’s speech-making skills are impressive, but the more he repeats the same stump speech lines, the queasier we get. Nor have his answers to the gentle questioning he has encountered provided any confidence that Sen. Obama has a grasp of the issues.”

    Fixed that.

  20. Mr. Pink says:

    Nishi you said yourself on an earlier thread on here that the media would “get” her. Now your disagreeing with yourself? Pick an opinion and stick with it please.

  21. Mr. Pink says:

    If I had more spare time at work it would be easy for me to go find your comment where you said the exact opposite of what your saying now.

  22. quellcrist falconer says:

    how many speeches has Palin given?
    did Palin/Mccain take questions Monday when Obama did?
    she wont take questions i bet until the debate.
    It’s a shell game and McCain is the scam artist, the confidance man.
    Hes bettin the electorate wont see the dead zone between Palin’s ears until after the election cuz they’re too busy lookin at her (very nice for a 44 yr olds) boobies.
    ;)

  23. quellcrist falconer says:

    meanwhile, back at the Stock Market.
    dy/dx
    i think there is a negative correlation between the market average and Obama polling.

    nice positioning for that Newsweek article, dontcha think?

  24. Mikey NTH says:

    Kate’s comments are useful in that they highlight where not to go.

    Like the old charts – “Here Be Insanity.”

  25. Slartibartfast says:

    …plus, she’s short.

  26. Slartibartfast says:

    DJIA, just to get a visual on nishtoon’s imagined correlation.

  27. N. O'Brain says:

    “Comment by quellcrist falconer on 9/22 @ 12:18 pm #

    that the media is “against” Palin is simple spin.”

    Shut up, nishi, you ignorant slut.

  28. SarahW says:

    Hey Nishi, nobody’s got to vote for her. It’s a free country. Quease away.

  29. N. O'Brain says:

    “Hey Nishi, nobody’s got to vote for her.”

    I do.

    I want to be around on election night and the O!ssiah looses and nishi’s punkin’ head explodes.

  30. DJIA, just to get a visual on nishtoon’s imagined correlation.

    Or, over the long term….

    Since nishfong has the attention span of a fruit fly, though, it’s not likely that she’s cognizant of anything that happened before lunch today.

  31. quellcrist falconer says:

    I repeat, MSM vs Palin is just cover so that she doesnt gaffe with the press until her cram course on Absolutely Everything is done.
    An you sukkahs are fallin for it.
    Cripes, no can even find out how tall Palin is.
    Let alone what she knows about “…nuclear proliferation, ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and covert wars elsewhere), global climate change, a convulsing economy, Russian belligerence, the rise of China, emerging epidemics, Islamism on a hundred fronts, a defunct United Nations, the deterioration of American schools, failures of energy, infrastructure and Internet security…”
    We know she likes moose stew and hockey.
    big whup.
    sry, she needs a bit more qualls to pass the gate.

  32. Mr. Pink says:

    Nishi do you enjoy lying??? Here is some quotes where you take the exact opposite opinion that you do now.

    1. Comment by quellcrist falconer on 9/4 @ 12:25 pm #
    Ponnuru remarks that the media is launching a more savage attack on Palin than on any previous conservative.
    Heres why.
    I might have voted for Palin once upon a time,,,,but no more.
    Go ahead and bear an raise a downs baby….thats your choice.
    but dont try to restrict my libertarian right to have an abortion if i so choose, and dont try to guilt me either.
    dont try to impose your religious views on me, either about LIFE! or creationism.
    go ahead, let your teenage daughter be a 5months unwed mother when u run for national office…..but dont piss and moan about it when it hits the tabloids.
    and dont try to make me believe u can stand up to malevolent dictators when you cant even defend yourself and your family against the American press.

    1. Comment by quellcrist falconer on 9/4 @ 5:28 am #
    gonna be a slight problem for y’all
    if u think the media is gonna give her a bye on this you are delusional.
    they will be pissy and vindictive after the big scolding about bristol spears…..err palin that they have been getting.
    have a nice day

    1. Comment by quellcrist falconer on 9/4 @ 5:42 am #
    lol, extra chromosome jeebus-tards
    Palin is just chum in the water for the MSM
    look for a LOT more of this.
    ;)

  33. Nishi do you enjoy lying???

    Yes, she does.

    That’s why you shouldn’t waste any time on a long rebuttal. If you must, just point, laugh, and move on.

  34. McGehee says:

    I repeat

    We’ve noticed.

  35. SarahW says:

    BTW, George Washinton believed in providence, as did Lincoln, and most people believe there is possibly or likely or certainly some point to existence beyond our tiny little consciounesses.
    Struggling to be on the side of good – not a horrifying notion to anyone but nihilists.

  36. B Moe says:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Qing-jao
    New handle you should try out nishfong. Much more appropriate.

  37. Mr. Pink says:

    Someone should pay me for reading thru your past comments to find that.

  38. SarahW says:

    We found out how tall Palin is. Taller than short, little one.

  39. Mr. Pink says:

    After reading her poop my head hurts.

  40. Jim Treacher says:

    It’s like I keep saying: It’s unfair to compare Obama to Nixon. Nixon didn’t have the Internet.

  41. Mr. Pink says:

    Nishi do you not realize stuff you type here is saved?

  42. Mr. Pink says:

    Comment by quellcrist falconer on 9/4 @ 7:24 am #

    if Plain is so “tuff” how become she needs protected from the media rippin her up?
    do u think Putin or Nejad are gonna respect her?
    shez a joke lol.
    a uniter? she will polarize the country on social issues.
    a rebel?
    lol, shez georgebush in drag, joe sixpack with boobs.
    get a clue cudlips.
    the media will chew her up and spit out the pieces.

  43. Nishi do you not realize stuff you type here is saved?

    She doesn’t care, Pink.

    She will repeat the same lies ad infinitum, without the slightest regard for how many times they’ve been refuted. Or, if it becomes convenient, she’ll switch to a completely new and incompatible set of lies.

    Her goal is to annoy you. That’s why she’s here. That’s her only purpose for being.

    Don’t let her achieve her goal. Do not engage her on any serious level. Instead, simply laugh at her or ignore her.

    Sad, lonely little girl.

  44. B Moe says:

    Cripes, no can even find out how tall Palin is.

    Because the only people who care are drooling morons.

  45. Slartibartfast says:

    An you sukkahs are fallin for it

    We didn’t fall for your imaginary inverse-correlation bit, so don’t worry your pretty little head about other deceptions. We’ll cope with them, too.

  46. Jeff G. says:

    All that stuff I documented coming out of the media savaging Palin almost immediately? Didn’t happen. Just a figment of our imaginations planted, Total Recall-like, in our collective minds by those wishing to give Palin more time to prepare.

    Why those same geniuses didn’t just plant a fully-prepared knowledge of world affairs in Palin’s head is anybody’s guess — but then, villains never seemed just to want to shoot Batman in the head, either. It was always, “Let’s tie him to this giant cuckoo clock / buzz saw combo and be off. No one will ever suspect it was me, the Mad Hatter!”

    At any rate, nishi is reduced to parroting Newsweek now — and calling me a Jesus-loving creationist homophobe / xenophobe. So I think it’s safe to say that that milk is officially beyond its sell-by date.

    Kate just can’t seem to convince us that we should care that Palin didn’t go to the “right” schools, etc. But having been to those myself, I can tell you that they cater to the kinds of students who are good at parroting back what the teacher tells them. Which, in the academy of Obama, is a lot of leftist garbage masquerading as “critical thinking” — while REAL critical thinking is quite obviously discouraged.

    Feature not a bug, Kate. Deal.

  47. McGehee says:

    Her goal is to annoy you. That’s why she’s here. That’s her only purpose for being.

    I can’t ever imagine being that pathetic.

  48. quellcrist falconer says:

    my position has evolved on Palin.
    kinda like Palin’s position on the bridge to nowhere and earmarks, and not unlike McCains’ positions on agents of intolerance and market deregulation.

  49. JD says:

    nishitiot took another cowpie in this thread. Nice, cumlip.

  50. Mr. Pink says:

    Sorry I was raised not to be a liar so I find her lying insulting to my intelligence. Especially since Jeff’s site archives this stuff.

  51. quellcrist falconer says:

    “Why those same geniuses didn’t just plant a fully-prepared knowledge of world affairs in Palin’s head is anybody’s guess”

    like you say, a feature, not a bug. otherwise Bristol Palin could have had a nice private ceremony the week before the pick. this is IQ baiting, just like race baiting.
    and you dont see it?

    and, my guess is they cant…..there just isnt the substrate to support it.

  52. McGehee says:

    Kate, nothing about you evolves.

  53. quellcrist falconer says:

    quite simply, a cynical attempt to preconfigure Palin as a victim.
    IQ baiting.

  54. urthshu says:

    Oh, you could imagine it, McGehee. You kinda gotta think back to High School, circa 14yo, and picture yourself being the sort of kid that got pants or wedgied by jocks all the time, then run into a supermodel and you just want to get noticed, you know, but you’ve got no clue how to go about it and you swear to God you’ll kill yourself if she doesn’t [but of course you don’t mean it].

    Pretty much like that.

  55. quellcrist falconer says:

    you’re the big race-baiting guy, Jeff.
    can’t u tell IQ-baiting when u see it?

  56. Rob Crawford says:

    Why is anyone trying to engage the moron? She’s incapable of independent thought, and rebutting her just makes her scream louder.

  57. Jeffersonian says:

    my position has evolved on Palin.

    And just in time for the new narrative!!

    Fine work, Mr. Pink, uncovering Nishi’s latest falsehoods.

  58. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Nishi: “The Washington Post editorialized yesterday about this, writing that “McCain’s selection of an inexperienced and relatively unknown figure was unsettling, and the campaign’s decision to keep her sequestered from serious interchanges with reporters and voters serves only to deepen the unease.”

    As opposed to, say, the Democratic Party’s selection of an inexperienced and relatively unknown figure as the top of their ticket?

    Nishi, you really are an empty-headed yutz.

  59. JD says:

    IQ baiting ?! Good Allah, your stoopidity should be as fuckin’ painful to you as it is to the rest of the world.

  60. JD says:

    nishit aka Kate aka The Drunken Falconer aka Gloriously fuckheaded stoopidity is the King of the Trolls.

  61. N. O'Brain says:

    Comment by quellcrist falconer on 9/22 @ 1:16 pm #

    Shut up, kate, you ignorant slut.

  62. Mikey NTH says:

    A cuckoo clock/buzzsaw. I got to remember that one.
    You’ll get full credit Jeff if it works.

  63. Mikey NTH says:

    #55 Kate:

    IQ baiting? You bait like Wile E. Coyote.
    Are you even semi-competent in anything?

  64. N. O'Brain says:

    Queen of the trolls.

    In her own, so to speak, mind.

  65. N. O'Brain says:

    “Are you even semi-competent in anything?”

    No, no she’s not.

  66. alppuccino says:

    can’t u tell IQ-baiting when u see it?

    Is that when you flick your g-spot with a mortarboard tassel?

  67. Mikey NTH says:

    You do realize those roadrunner/coyote cartoons weren’t instructional videos, right?
    No? Well that explains that…

  68. Pablo says:

    If IQ baiting were the game, there’s not a hook small enough to accommodate Kate’s bait. Maybe she’s fishing for gametes.

  69. Rob Crawford says:

    But back onto the topic — what does this tell us about how O! would govern?

  70. Jeff G. says:

    Re: IQ baiting. Looks like the ignorant cudlips were able to pierce the ingenious campaign of deception created by their betters. Accident, most likely.

    At any rate, if Kate doesn’t wish to speak to the content of the post, my position on responding has “evolved” to “please don’t address me anymore.” After all, why would Kate care what a xenophobic race-baiting racist homophobic Christianist Jesusland creationist Jew cudlip worshipper thinks, anyway?

  71. quellcrist falconer says:

    lol!
    ur not a race-baiter.
    but ur a sukkah for the IQ-bait, aren’t you Jeff?

  72. Mikey NTH says:

    The astroturfing reminds me of a Monty Python skit I saw a long time ago where Hitler had escaped to England and was running for office under the name of Hitner and he was giving a speech from a balcony and there was one guy listening and a guy in an SS uniform sidled up to the listener and said “He’s right, you know.”

    Like any other type of advertising, I think astroturfing would be very useful in some situations and with some audiences and less useful in others. Certainly, it is useless against an audience that is informed and does not favor the side trying to ‘astroturf’. Ace has had some recent posts on the ‘concerned christian conservative commenters’, and really, the astroturfing troll is easy to spot.

    I think astroturfing works best in those situations when the audience doesn’t have much information about the subject, and isn’t deeply interested in the subject so to look for more information. In that situation the audience may accept what it is seeing at face-value and use that as part of its decision making.

    In this campaign you have an audience which has different levels of interest, from plain indifferent to very interested and partisan. I think astroturfing was more useful wyhen there were fewer media outlets because it was harder for those who were deeply interested to get out their suspicions. In addition, being a national campaign (and not a regional marketing, or city-wide marketing campaign) there are a lot more people who can call shenanigans. The sheer number of interested parties and the multiple outlets for organization means that the half-life of an astroturfing campaign just got much, much shorter and more work has to go into it to cover the tracks, much more work than was done in smaller campaigns in the past.

    That’s what I am thinking off the top of my head and I haven’t read any psychology of advertising/marketing texts and all that.

  73. Mikey NTH says:

    That coyote never does learn.

  74. Bob Reed says:

    Oh yes, one can only hope that this exposes Axelrod at al for the astroturfing phonies that they are…

    Leave it to the elitist uber-lefties to mistrust the proletariats they espouse so much love, respect, and desire to champion for, to sooooooo not get just how superior their hopey-changey-ness is to the noble, but horribly misguided, kinship and heartfelt affinity for that rube, trailer-trash, phony feminist, bible-thumping, non-ivy-league educated, backwoods bitch they feel, that they decide to bypass them altogether and simply manufacture a backlash by a concerned citizen journalist

    O! often speaks about people being tricked into voting against their economic interest be the eeeeeevil RethugliKKKans time and time again…

    I wonder if by tricked, he means using the same astroturfing tactics that Axelrod used, in the employ of the local electric company, to get Illinois residents to vote for an electric rate increase

    The same tactics that are being used here???

    We need to send this all around the blogosphere in the vain hope that the MSM is compelled to cover it…

  75. Sean M. says:

    There was a phrase I once heard regarding food and trolls, but I seem to have forgotten it. Damn, what was that?

  76. Bob Reed says:

    Comment by Mikey NTH on 9/22 @ 2:19 pm

    You are dead on sir, and your comparison is both humorous and revealing at the same time. It would be uber sweet to run the skit side-by-side with some of this eswinner astrorurf bilge…

    regards,

  77. Uh-huh says:

    Wow, I really enjoy the posts and comments but why the hell does everyone around here fall for Nishi’s obvious redirection of any topic that dares to question Obama?

    Love this quote:

    “– Which, is it me, or is it beginning to look like the “change” Obama’s been on about has really kind of retro vibe: you know, warmed over policies from McCarthy and McGovern, coupled with the “ratfucking” strategies of the Nixon campaign.”

  78. quellcrist falconer says:

    why cant reporters ask Palin about her opinions and experience?
    team mccain is leading her around like a pet one-trick pony.
    why not let the american actually get to know what she believes?
    whats the harm?

    What doesn’t she know about financial markets, Islam, the history of the Middle East, the cold war, modern weapons systems, medical research, environmental science or emerging technology? Her relative ignorance is guaranteed on these fronts and most others, not because she was put on the spot, or got nervous, or just happened to miss the newspaper on any given morning. Sarah Palin’s ignorance is guaranteed because of how she has spent the past 44 years on earth.

    why isnt the American electorate allowed to query Palin on this stuff?
    is this why?

    What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents—and her supporters celebrate—the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance. Watching her deny to Gibson that she had ever harbored the slightest doubt about her readiness to take command of the world’s only superpower, one got the feeling that Palin would gladly assume any responsibility on earth:

    “Governor Palin, are you ready at this moment to perform surgery on this child’s brain?”

    “Of course, Charlie. I have several boys of my own, and I’m an avid hunter.”

    “But governor, this is neurosurgery, and you have no training as a surgeon of any kind.”

    “That’s just the point, Charlie. The American people want change in how we make medical decisions in this country. And when faced with a challenge, you cannot blink.”

    The prospects of a Palin administration are far more frightening, in fact, than those of a Palin Institute for Pediatric Neurosurgery. Ask yourself: how has “elitism” become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn’t seem too intelligent or well educated.

  79. Rob Crawford says:

    It would be nice if the morons linked things instead of copy-and-paste when they’re using other people’s words. Besides the intellectual honesty, there are the copyright concerns.

  80. Tiny says:

    hehehe how stupid cute! Quoting Newsweek and WaPo like they are reliable news sources and not Obama kneepad wearers.

  81. Rob Crawford says:

    And, again, it’s amazing how desperate the Obamanauts are to not actually discuss Obama. It’s as if they can’t actually, you know, defend him, so they just go apeshit when someone dares to question his actions or the actions of anyone connected to him.

  82. Sdferr says:

    How’s things with Mr. Soros, Tiny? Settling in ok, is he?

  83. SGT Ted says:

    oops left my jokey handle in there.

    Jesus Kate. We are witnessing what the “elite” have inflicted on the markets. Quit being such an authoritarian bigot for once.

  84. quellcrist falconer says:

    Amendment VI states that religion shall not bar a citizen from the High Office.
    Expect to see team mccain try to make Plain’s religious views taboo for discussion or to paint any questions on them as elistist attacks.
    But the wise Framers didnt mean we are obligated to vote for anyone whose religious beliefs render them stupid or crazy.

  85. Tiny says:

    He’s not here yet. :(

    But, I’m gettin ready watchin him on TV and practicing with my pillow.

    mmmm such a purty mouth.

  86. quellcrist falconer says:

    those are all from my previous links that you didnt read crawford.

    Jeff knows im telling the truth.
    Its IQ-baiting, pure and simple.

    Palin wont answer questions from the press cuz the hates her and is unfair.
    Shell game.

  87. SGT Ted says:

    But the wise Framers didnt mean we are obligated to vote for anyone whose religious beliefs render them stupid or crazy.

    Thats why I’m not voting for Obama.

  88. Sean M. says:

    Food…trolls…damn, I can’t remember.

  89. happyfeet says:

    I think about this astroturfing thing, that a lot independent of how effective it may or may not be, I get the sense that it is deeply satisfying for Baracky’s people to do it. It’s very OCD in its implementation, more brute force than calculated. But whatever. Baracky’s people have contempt for democracy is all you need to note about this. That’s very sad to me. How did Baracky get so frantic? I don’t remember him starting out that way.

  90. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Nishi: “But the wise Framers didnt mean we are obligated to vote for anyone whose religious beliefs render them stupid or crazy.”

    Like Obama’s experience at TUCC under Reverend Wright?

    Kate, y’all really are a nish-wit.

  91. Pablo says:

    Baracky’s followers have long been this way. BDS has been polluting them for years. I don’t know that this speaks to franticness on Baracky’s part. I’m sure that distance between him and this stuff is built into the program.

  92. happyfeet says:

    I meant the empty vessel Baracky, the blank screen.

  93. mgl says:

    There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence.

    The Left chooses the least experienced, least distinguished and most transparently insubstantial presidential candidate in living memory, who himself chooses a long-term Washington mediocrity as his least-of-all-evils VP, and they’re still oblivious enough to try to make this election about Excellence. That right there is some irony for you.

  94. quellcrist falconer says:

    do you even know what O’s beliefs are Sgt Ted?
    you know what Wright’s beliefs are I guess.
    How about Palin’s Pastor?

    Whackjob Leftbehinder that speaks in tongues. The cauc pentecostal equivalent of Rev. Wright’s BLT.
    Is that what Sarah Palin believes?
    She hasn’t said anything.
    At Least Obama has taken interview questions on his faith.

  95. quellcrist falconer says:

    Palin spent 20 years in that church.

  96. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Nishi, the ironies you’re missing are that A) people don’t vote for the bottom of the ticket and B) By your own standard, the Obamessiah is a waste of time and has no business running for President.

  97. Sean M. says:

    There was something about telephone poles, too.

  98. mgl says:

    “That’s what I said.”

    Excellence! Rigorous training! Extraordinary talent!

  99. quellcrist falconer says:

    more than 20 years lol
    betchu she got married there ;)
    lol.

  100. Squid says:

    Speaking of stupid and crazy, the TTP wrote: “Amendment VI states that religion shall not bar a citizen from the High Office.”

    Anyone with more than half a brain (I know, I know) knows that the Sixth Amendment actually grants one the right to a speedy and public trial and the assistance of legal counsel.

    What really sucks is that the Ben Folds Five song “Kate” is really happy and uplifting, but now whenever I hear it I’ll keep picturing this drooling idiot. Sad, really.

  101. happyfeet says:

    Astroturfing is fun for like movies and stuff. I thought the marketing for Cloverfield was a lot more fun than the movie. Baracky is getting mixed up between election day and opening weekend I think. They’re supposed to be a lot differenter than the Baracky campaign understands I think.

  102. quellcrist falconer says:

    Cthulu fhtagen!
    wake up…
    ppl are voting for Palin.
    this election would be over if Septugenarian Guy hadn’t picked her.
    she is running for futurepresident.

  103. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Tearing down Palin on things that are equally applicable to Obama is not going to help “teh cauz,” Nishi.

  104. Mikey NTH says:

    #90 haps:

    I think it is satisfying for them to do because it reinforces their sense of superiority over the lessers. If they fool others, then they are ever so much cleverer. The sloppiness that The Jawa Report noted is indicative of this, because they didn’t take good care to cover their tracks. And perhaps, like too-clever-by-half adolescents, they can’t resist the urge to brag.

    Watch for more rage when it is shown that they aren’t half as clever as they think they are.

  105. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Nishi: “ppl are voting for Palin.”

    While her presence on the ticket has excited conservatives,the top of the ticket is still McCain. They will be voting for McCain.

    Nishi: “this election would be over if Septugenarian Guy hadn’t picked her.”

    No, it would be over if Obama had picked Hillary Clinton and united his base… pretty dumb move by the Obamessiah, don’t you think?

  106. quellcrist falconer says:

    but….Pastor McGraw is just as crazy as Rev. Wright.
    Is it, in your opinon, a “better” kind of crazy?

    Palin’s former pastor, Tim McGraw, says that like many Pentecostal churches, some members speak in tongues, although he says he’s never seen Palin do so. Church member Caroline Spangler told CNN, “When the spirit comes on you, you utter things that nobody else can understand … only God can understand what is coming out of our mouths.”

    Some Pentecostals from Assembly of God also believe in “faith healing” and the “end times” — a violent upheaval that they believe will deliver Jesus Christ’s second coming.

    “Our basic belief is that God is God and he knows where history is going and he has a purposeful plan and within the middle of that plan we live in an environment in our world where certain events would take place,” says McGraw. “Sarah wasn’t taught to look for one particular sign — a cataclysmic sign. She knew as every Christian does … that God is sovereign and he is in control.”

  107. happyfeet says:

    The problem with Baracky’s astroturfing is that he’s obsessed with his opponent. Successful astroturfing doesn’t do that. This is why movie campaigns don’t spend a lot of time explaining why you shouldn’t go see other movies. The way Baracky does this sort of thing is uncomfortably Hugo Chavez, at least for me. Baracky is gonna go down in history as something of a pimp I think.

  108. Mikey NTH says:

    #94 mgl:

    Agreed.
    I believe it was Churchill who said that ‘experts should be on tap, but never on top’. As is common sense, expertise in one area does not translate into expertise in another field. Albert Einstein was an expert in physics, but that doesn’t mean I would have him plan a military campaign.

    Civil governence means that decisions have to be made over a wide area of subjects after receiving advice from the appropriate experts, and often the concerned populations’ desires – which advice then must be weighed against each other. It doesn’t call for any specific expertise to do that, just the courage to make a decision.

  109. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Nishi: “but….Pastor McGraw is just as crazy as Rev. Wright.
    Is it, in your opinon, a “better” kind of crazy?”

    A) Palin has been a member of three churches in Alaska.

    B) As a militant agnostic (“I don’t know and neither do you, damn it!”), I really don’t care about how a body decides they want to worship God.

    C) You still don’t get it — Obama was, politically and metaphorically, in bed with Wright. Nothing you’ve said makes an argument for voting for Obama — all the things you’ve cut and pasted re: Palin apply equally, if not more, to Obama.

    As for the media, do you think SNL would dare put on a skit implying the Obamessiah was banging *his* children?

  110. quellcrist falconer says:

    No, it would be over if Obama had picked Hillary Clinton and united his base… pretty dumb move by the Obamessiah, don’t you think?

    wow….did you actually say that McCain’s only criteria for pickin Palin was her UTERUS?
    lol, trudat. ;)

  111. quellcrist falconer says:

    How was Palin not “in bed” with Pastor McGraw?
    She attended his church for OVER 20 years.

  112. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Nishi: “wow….did you actually say that McCain’s only criteria for pickin Palin was her UTERUS?”

    No, Nishi. I said that Obama would have potentially healed the rift in the Democratic party by choosing the second strongest candidate from the Democratic primaries to be his running-mate, rather than some Senate never-was.

    You really are an ignoramus.

  113. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Nishi: “How was Palin not “in bed” with Pastor McGraw?”

    He’s hardly a footnote in her political career, for starters.

  114. Mikey NTH says:

    #108 haps:

    There was that thing where Alinsky’s son said how effective his father’s tactics were when executed properly. I don’t think anyone covered what should be done when the target knows those tactics and responds accordingly. Like Kerry not having a plan set up for the SwiftVets – the ‘Winter Soldier’ stuff was going to come back and bite him, anyone with any common sense and an once of humility could see that. Yet it appears, again, that no contingency plan was in place.

    Hubris.

  115. Mikey NTH says:

    Kate’s crazy-obssesed with Gov. Palin.
    Best to just ignore her

  116. Vinny Vidivici says:

    Thanks, mgl, others. Replace ‘Palin’ with ‘Obama’ on the experience rap and it makes just as much sense.

    As far as her wacky religion goes, nothing cited here compares to the bigoted rants Obama considered appropriate Sunday ‘worship’. Why they keep drawing attention to such obvious weaknesses . . . go figure.

  117. hoss says:

    Hmmmmm. One congregation has some potentially wacky but harmless beliefs.

    Another congregation is being told that the white man created AIDS to kill the black man, so that the Jew could take power. (and the man who will supposedly end all racial problems just sat there and smiled)

    These things don’t seem equal for some reason.

  118. mgl says:

    Palin’s former pastor, Tim McGraw, says that like many Pentecostal churches, some members speak in tongues, although he says he’s never seen Palin do so. Church member Caroline Spangler told CNN, “When the spirit comes on you, you utter things that nobody else can understand … only God can understand what is coming out of our mouths.”

    Well, as my Catholic co-worker says, that’s what happens when you give the peasants their own church. (An affectionate joke on his part.)

    But to answer your question, yes: It’s a hugely “better type of crazy” than frothing race-hatred and political demagogery. Obama attended Trinity for almost 20 years, iirc, and donated tens of thousands to a church whose pastor channeled the Nuremberg Rally on a regular basis. He only gets a free pass from you because you think he’s so calculating and cynical that he doesn’t believe a word of it.

  119. B Moe says:

    why cant reporters ask Palin about her opinions and experience?
    team mccain is leading her around like a pet one-trick pony.
    why not let the american actually get to know what she believes?
    whats the harm?

    I am going to try one more time to explain something that seems to be completely evading the super-genius and her little friends, they probably miss it due to her simplicity:

    Palin is running for VICE-PRESIDENT. That is kind of like an assistant to the real President, which is what McCain and Obama are running for. Her opinions are secondary to McCains, and any questions she answers need to be consistent with McCain and the Republican Party platform. That is why she is being “shielded” from the press, she is being briefed and prepared to reinforce McCain’s positions during the debates, and later on when she does give interviews.

    Obama isn’t bothering to do this with Biden because Obama doesn’t have any real positions and Biden is going to say whatever pops into his skull first anyway.

  120. quellcrist falconer says:

    a better type of crazy….hmmm

    I care even more about the many things Palin thinks she knows but doesn’t: like her conviction that the Biblical God consciously directs world events. Needless to say, she shares this belief with mil-lions of Americans—but we shouldn’t be eager to give these people our nuclear codes, either. There is no question that if President McCain chokes on a spare rib and Palin becomes the first woman president, she and her supporters will believe that God, in all his majesty and wisdom, has brought it to pass. Why would God give Sarah Palin a job she isn’t ready for? He wouldn’t. Everything happens for a reason. Palin seems perfectly willing to stake the welfare of our country—even the welfare of our species—as collateral in her own personal journey of faith. Of course, McCain has made the same unconscionable wager on his personal journey to the White House.

    In speaking before her church about her son going to war in Iraq, Palin urged the congregation to pray “that our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God; that’s what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan, and that plan is God’s plan.” When asked about these remarks in her interview with Gibson, Palin successfully dodged the issue of her religious beliefs by claiming that she had been merely echoing the words of Abraham Lincoln. The New York Times later dubbed her response “absurd.” It was worse than absurd; it was a lie calculated to conceal the true character of her religious infatuations. Every detail that has emerged about Palin’s life in Alaska suggests that she is as devout and literal-minded in her Christian dogmatism as any man or woman in the land. Given her long affiliation with the Assemblies of God church, Palin very likely believes that Biblical prophecy is an infallible guide to future events and that we are living in the “end times.” Which is to say she very likely thinks that human history will soon unravel in a foreordained cataclysm of war and bad weather. Undoubtedly Palin believes that this will be a good thing—as all true Christians will be lifted bodily into the sky to make merry with Jesus, while all nonbelievers, Jews, Methodists and other rabble will be punished for eternity in a lake of fire. Like many Pentecostals, Palin may even imagine that she and her fellow parishioners enjoy the power of prophecy themselves. Otherwise, what could she have meant when declaring to her congregation that “God’s going to tell you what is going on, and what is going to go on, and you guys are going to have that within you”?

    You can learn something about a person by the company she keeps. In the churches where Palin has worshiped for decades, parishioners enjoy “baptism in the Holy Spirit,” “miraculous healings” and “the gift of tongues.” Invariably, they offer astonishingly irrational accounts of this behavior and of its significance for the entire cosmos. Palin’s spiritual colleagues describe themselves as part of “the final generation,” engaged in “spiritual warfare” to purge the earth of “demonic strongholds.” Palin has spent her entire adult life immersed in this apocalyptic hysteria. Ask yourself: Is it a good idea to place the most powerful military on earth at her disposal? Do we actually want our leaders thinking about the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy when it comes time to say to the Iranians, or to the North Koreans, or to the Pakistanis, or to the Russians or to the Chinese: “All options remain on the table”?

  121. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Nishi, you really are a waste of CHON…

  122. quellcrist falconer says:

    You can learn something about a person by the company she keeps.

    how many times has Jeff tryed to paint O as the ideological clone of Rev. Wright?
    why doesnt it work that way for Palin?
    Pwnage.

    ssssssssssssssssssss
    feel the burn.
    By association, Palin is a whackjob, and a “Dim”.
    own it.

  123. Pablo says:

    What is Allah’s plan? That’s what we really need to know, Kate.

  124. Sean M. says:

    Oh, for fuck’s sake, people, JUST STOP FEEDING THE DAMN THING, ALREADY!!!

  125. cranky-d says:

    If you keep listening to and responding to the crazy people, you will eventually be driven crazy yourselves. Do yourself a favor and ignore them.

  126. Mikey NTH says:

    #85 Kate was trying to reference this:

    Article. VI. [ Annotations ]
    All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

    This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any state to the Contrary notwithstanding.

    The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

    And she still doesn’t understand it. So much for super-genius girl.

  127. quellcrist falconer says:

    perhaps there will be youtubes of speaking in tongues and faith healing by Palin’s co-congregationalists.

    lol!!!!!

    Palin/Jindal 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!
    the faith-healing speakin-in-tongues demon-exorcism ticket!!!!!!

  128. SDN says:

    Tell you what, Kate, when you can find DVDs for sale from Palin’s church saying that God approves of killing all the nonwhites (except, of course, the ones he married there), let me know.

  129. SDN says:

    “Every detail that has emerged about Palin’s life in Alaska suggests that she is as devout and literal-minded in her Christian dogmatism as any man or woman in the land.”

    Except, of course, that none of her official acts, or any laws she’s proposed / supported, confirm one scintilla of this.

  130. quellcrist falconer says:

    theres the harm.
    if the qualls for VP are to be ready to replace Septugenarian Guy from day1, how can you seriously say Palin is qualified?
    Im sure she’s a nice person and mostly a good mom, but how does that quall her to have the codes to our nuclear arsenal?
    ‘specially if shes a closet endtimes millenialist.

  131. B Moe says:

    …how many times has Jeff tryed to paint O as the ideological clone of Rev. Wright?

    Less times than you have tryed to spell tried correctly in that sentence.

  132. Mikey NTH says:

    #88 Sgt. Ted:

    That is exactly correct. Any citizen who has the franchise may exercise that franchise as he or she chooses, so Kate’s whole argument becomes how she plans to vote and why.

    Or, ‘so what?’.

    Obssessions are sad to watch. Most functional humans retain enough respect for their fellows not to inflict their interests and hobbies on random strangers. Of course, functional humans don’t refer to everyone else as ‘cattle’ and then act hurt when they are rhetorically smacked for that.

    To complete the exercise, I guess I have to add that Kate is not a functional human. But we already new that.

    Whee! Smack the cage and watch her leap and twirl!

  133. B Moe says:

    How many lines on the hardwood floor, Han Qing-jao?

  134. quellcrist falconer says:

    Obama’s been pretty clear that he is a christian and disagrees with Rev Wright.
    I jus wanna hear the same thing from Palin. ;)
    lol

  135. Vinny Vidivici says:

    How about:

    “Do we actually want our leaders worrying about what Europeans will think, what the BBC will say, whether or not the UN will approve, why it’s all (always) our fault, how it will poll, or what we can do to appease our antagonists when it comes time to say to the Iranians, or to the North Koreans, or to the Pakistanis, or to the Russians or to the Chinese: “All options remain on the table”?”

    That better?

    Again, concerns over the fitness of the number two on one ticket apply in triplicate to the top of the other ticket.

  136. Jeff G. says:

    Maybe one of the tongues Palin speaks in will be a foreign language. That will make Barack very proud.

    And — bonus — what if it’s Russian? Won’t old Putin get a knot in his throat over that

  137. mgl says:

    There is no question that if Obama becomes the first black president, he and his supporters will believe that Dialectical Materialism, in all its majesty and wisdom, has brought it to pass. Why would History give Barack Obama a job he isn’t ready for? It wouldn’t. Everything happens for a reason. Obama seems perfectly willing to stake the welfare of our country—even the welfare of our species—as collateral in his own personal journey of self-discovery.

    Fixed.

  138. B Moe says:

    Obama’s been pretty clear that he is a christian and disagrees with Rev Wright.

    IQ baiting indeed.

  139. quellcrist falconer says:

    she doesnt speak any foreign languages.
    she didnt hold a passport until last year.
    shes never been out of the country.

  140. quellcrist falconer says:

    c’mon, lets just have Palin publically repudiate Pastor Tim and the Endtimes.
    that is all im askin
    lol!!!LOL!!LOLolollllol!

  141. B Moe says:

    When Father Fleger is preaching a sermon, or Hillary or Al Gore are giving a speech, at a black church and start slipping into ebonics, ain’t that kind of like speaking in tongues?

  142. Vinny Vidivici says:

    #126 cranky:

    No worries. More like cats playing with a dead mouse . . . nice diversion. Ah well, back to work.

  143. quellcrist falconer says:

    look, she’d be one 72-yr-old heartbeat away from the presidency.
    all im asking is that we get to know her positions a wee bit.
    is that too much to ask?
    why?
    ;)

  144. urthshu says:

    Her POSITIONS? Jumpin jesus on a pogostick

  145. quellcrist falconer says:

    well SDN, in the Endtimes, all the true xians will be raptured up to party with Jesus and the rest of us, Methodists, atheists, Jews, aganostics, mormons, blackfolk, hindus, etc, etc, will be left to perish in a lake of fire where the anti-christ is the Secretary of the EU.

    wats the difference?

  146. kelly says:

    all im asking is that we get to know her positions a wee bit.

    Sure, right after we get to know O!‘s positions. Deal?

  147. Sdferr says:

    $22,000 reported in his last year alone at the church.

  148. mgl says:

    all im asking is that we get to know her positions a wee bit.

    Missionary!

    [rimshot]

  149. happyfeet says:

    Like Kerry not having a plan set up for the SwiftVets

    I think this is analogous to the media’s screech and blame campaign on anything and everything. It’s really much more difficult for Baracky to pimp his Hugo Chavez brand of changey when the media is shrieking about tumult. I think the shrieky accentuates the tempered solidness of McCain a lot to the detriment of the flighty effervescence of Baracky. Things got real changey already in the past month is what I mean. Experience counts a lot more than it did when this campaign started.

  150. quellcrist falconer says:

    kelly, O publically repudiated Wright.
    will Palin publically repudiate Pastor Tim?
    teh crazy is pretty much equivalent.

    btw…..how much money did the Palins give to Pastor Tim?
    Palin was in that church for more than 20 years.
    Pastor Tim married them and baptized the older children fer sure.
    c’mon, fair and unbiased lol.

  151. Sad, sad, lonely little girl.

  152. urthshu says:

    BTW, is Baracky still planning on all the giveaways? Has the economic changiness altered his plans any? Esp that there Global Poverty boondoggle? Or is he like don’t worry we’ll print more dough?

  153. happyfeet says:

    Astroturfing isn’t really any different than how the NPR and MSNBC and Newsweek peoples behave already. Much more alike than different, anyway. What we’re talking about here is a lot more of an ethos than a strategy I think.

  154. Pablo says:

    Good luck with that, Kate. But I’ve gotta ask, why is it that none of your favorite memes, which were sure to change the face of the election, have taken hold? Why is it that6 the general public doesn’t give half a shit about any of the many things you’ve obsessed over?

    I think you’re out of touch.

  155. quellcrist falconer says:

    ;)

  156. B Moe says:

    all im asking is that we get to know her positions a wee bit.
    is that too much to ask?

    Then get your head out of your ass and go look it up. She has never tried to legislate, or backed legislation, that reflected any of the extreme views you attribute to her. If you can find otherwise, bring it. She has fought corruption within her own party and worked to clean up government, if you can find otherwise, bring it. I don’t really give a flying moose turd what she does on Sunday mornings, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the rest of the week. You have brought nothing of any substance, just more lefty boilerplate bullshit.

    And then you say all of that means nothing if Palin will just pander to you by renouncing everything she has ever done, like your hero. Fucking pathetic waste of food and air.

  157. quellcrist falconer says:

    i think that the market is tanking, and we still have how many days until until the election?
    i think the shell game will not hold.
    ;)

  158. quellcrist falconer says:

    has O ever tried to legislate BLT?
    yet u guyz believe it is his core belief.

  159. guinsPen says:

    [squawwwwwwrk]

  160. happyfeet says:

    Elections when incumbents are running are inherently plenty changey. How dumb would someone have to be to confuse McCain for Bush anyway? Pretty dumb I’d guess. I think I might know some people like that but we don’t really talk. It’s not really a value judgment it’s just talking to them is a lot of work and I have a lot I want to get done this year.

  161. B Moe says:

    i think that the market is tanking, and we still have how many days until until the election?

    And you think Obama is the leader we need if it does?
    And you think most of the voters agree with you?

  162. quellcrist falconer says:

    i just really, really dont want a Pentecostal Leftbehinder, someone that believes in the Endtimes, to have the codes to our nuclear arsonal.
    i think that would be a really bad idea.
    sowwy.

  163. happyfeet says:

    I want a panacea.

  164. mgl says:

    Because repudiating someone immediately nullifies all outstanding questions of judgement and character! Just like being washed clean in the blood of the Lamb! That’s how it worked for me: The moment I heard that Obama had “repudiated” Wright, all my concerns about his 20-year, donation-heavy membership in a racist church just … vanished.

    And when O! “repudiated” Tony Rezko, I instantly ceased worrying about his lucrative association with a known influence-peddler and convicted felon.

    And when he “repudiated” Bill Ayers … and Michael Pfleger … and Franklin Raines …

  165. B Moe says:

    has O ever tried to legislate BLT?
    yet u guyz believe it is his core belief.

    He hasn’t tried to legislate anything, his core belief is voting present. Obama is too shallow to have a core. I worry that BLT true believers will have too much influence on his administration.

  166. Pablo says:

    I want a pony.

  167. McGehee says:

    rebutting her just makes her scream louder.

    Why do you think I applied for the earplug concession? I’m gonna make a fortune!

  168. McGehee says:

    He hasn’t tried to legislate anything, his core belief is voting present.

    He’ll run for re-election in 2010 with the slogan: Senator Barack Obama: present but unaccounted for.

  169. Mikey NTH says:

    #154 haps:

    I think it is a tactic, not a strategy. Strategy is usually much broader in scope, tactics (as I understand it) is what is done to bring a stratgy about. As an example, torpedo-bombing is a tactic, cutting the Japanese Empire off from the raw materials of Indonesia was a strategy and used submarines, aricraft, and amphibious landings to accomplish. Another would be to sell more of one brand of beer, and for that a mascot is developed (Budweiser Clydesdales) and then tv ads, bar mirrors, t-shirts, etc. are made and distributed.

    Astroturfing (Manatee County Citizens for Safe Turtles) is another tactic, used when it is appropriate. I think too many advertisers (like other humans) get kind of lazy and try to use what has worked in the past in one campaign on a totally different campaign.

    Winner & Assoc. better hope that Sen. Obama’s bus is as big as RMS Olympic or it is going to get real crowded down there.

    On a side note: Jeff – you do seem to attract some real loons to here, don’t you? Is it the commenters or what?

  170. mgl says:

    Anyone else old enough to remember the exact same leftist hysteria about Reagan? “Oh, he believes in the Rapture! And the End Times! How can we trust such a fanatic with our nuclear arsenal?”

    Of course, the idiots back then could write complete, syntactically correct sentences, so they had that going for them.

    Nishi’s god–assuming she still believes and hasn’t flitted on to something else–has filled his book with extremely graphic depictions of the torment awaiting unbelievers and countless exhortations to his followers to Immanentize The Eschaton by killing or subjugating infidels. Her candidate’s god hates white people. And we’re supposed to worry about a few evangelicals?

  171. McGehee says:

    Hell, mgl — Kate has said those same things here about GWB. Somehow every Republican who sincerely believes that Jesus was an actual historical person gets painted that way.

    Josephus wept.

  172. Mikey NTH says:

    #163 Kate:

    i just really, really dont want a Pentecostal Leftbehinder, someone that believes in the Endtimes, to have the codes to our nuclear arsonal.
    i think that would be a really bad idea.
    sowwy.

    You’ve said it. Now stop.

  173. happyfeet says:

    Baracky’s tactics concern me. I guess mostly it’s the double standard of how godawful the heinous shrieking would be if the Republicans went anywhere near into the territory that Baracky and his tacticians go. I guess at this point though really all I can do is not help but notice that going into a debate without a teleprompter is probably not one of Baracky’s preferred tactics.

  174. Mikey NTH says:

    #166 BMoe:

    And that is why comparing Sen. Obama to Gov. Palin does not pan out. She has a history of acting, making decisions in office, that can be used to extrapolate how she will act in the future. Sen. Obama does not have that history, he is a ‘blank-slate’, which forces others to go deeper into his past, to Rev. Wright and TUCC, to get any idea on how he makes decisions.

    That is why Sen. Kerry fell back on his Vietnam days when compared to George W. Bush. Pres. Bush had a record of four years to run on; Sen. Kerry really didn’t have any other accomplishment to hold up.

    The extended campaign season did not help the ‘blank slate’ (hi Sen. Clinton!) because it allowed anyone to write whatever they wanted on that slate – both good and bad.

    A dilemma: To get in as a northeastern liberal you have to be a blank slate; to survive the primaries and campaign you have to be already defined down to the bedrock or the blank slate will be tagged by everyone. Sen. McCain is nearly untaggable, Sen. Biden also, Gov. Palin has an outline that can be seen. Sen. Obama? Now that is a target-rich environment.

  175. Mr. Pink says:

    Do not bother with this bitch she has already been exposed as a complete liar upthread and is hurried spin mode trying to change the freakin subject.

  176. quellcrist falconer says:

    lol…..
    heres the 411.
    i just want Jeff to admit he’s been scammed by IQ-baiting.
    he’s smart enuff to realize it.
    unlike most of the commetariat here.

  177. quellcrist falconer says:

    You have been played Jeff.
    I honestly thought you were smarter.

  178. quellcrist falconer says:

    choice!!

    Pastor Ed Kalnin, the senior pastor of Palin’s former Pentecostal church, has also come under fire for his comments. In 2004, he told church members if they voted for John Kerry for president, they wouldn’t get into heaven. He told them, “I question your salvation.”

  179. happyfeet says:

    Smarterness is all kinds of relative is the deal I think. God knows I have some days of rarefied stupid. But coworkers are really helpful in keeping this in perspective.

  180. quellcrist falconer says:

    Heres a good song for Palin, since Heart won’t let Team Mccain use Barracuda anymore.
    Jesus Take the Wheeeeeeeel

    Yah, sounds like a good way to run a country that is teetering on the verge of economic failure.
    moron cudlips.
    oh, pardon, moron yeoman farmers

  181. quellcrist falconer says:

    this too.
    Palin now attends the Wasilla Bible Church. She was there on August 17, just days before entering the national spotlight. David Brickner, the founder of Jews for Jesus, was a speaker. He told congregants that terrorist attacks on Israel were God’s “judgment” of Jews who haven’t embraced Christianity. Brickner said, “Judgment is very real and we see it played out on the pages of the newspapers and on the television. When a Palestinian from East Jerusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment — you can’t miss it.”

    How is this not exactly the same as that whacky dude at TUCC that made fun of hilary?
    Shouldnt Palin be held accountable for this jewsforjesus guy?
    He was at her church.

    she went to that church for 20 years!!!!!
    she got married there!!!!
    her kids were baptised there!!!!!!

  182. mgl says:

    Is it me, or is Kate even more frantic than usual? Almost … desperate.

  183. quellcrist falconer says:

    oh, pardon….that was her old church, where she went for more than 20 years.
    shes only been at this one 6 years.
    lol

  184. Daniel Dare says:

    Our Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd speaks in tongues.
    He is fluent in Mandarin. (Former ambassador to Beijing)

    Very useful skill going forward, Mandarin.
    Pentecostalism, not so much.

  185. quellcrist falconer says:

    yup, i still cant believe Jeff has fallen for the shell game.

  186. happyfeet says:

    Kevin is a nice name for a prime minister. Does anyone ever call him Kev?

  187. Pablo says:

    How is this not exactly the same as that whacky dude at TUCC that made fun of hilary?

    This is how.

  188. Daniel Dare says:

    Comment by happyfeet on 9/22 @ 5:50 pm

    Kev? All the time.

  189. quellcrist falconer says:

    waddyah think?
    maybe the reason Palin can’t talk to the media……is that they might ask her her about her core beliefs?
    and she might tell the truth?
    so we have to PROTECT the po’ little hockey mom from the inimicable and evil press.
    if shez pres who’s gonna protect her from the press?

  190. happyfeet says:

    What was creepy is how after Baracky and his marxist religion started getting looked at the media was all about how for real this is just a black thing don’t be alarmed. Well it’s not true that it’s a black thing but I think it would be very alarming if it was and I don’t care what NPR thinks.

  191. Pablo says:

    Gibson, Hannity, Couric…not the media. Voters, also not the media.

    I’m sure they love this meme at DKos, though.

  192. happyfeet says:

    There should be a show called Ask Kev where people can call in and ask the prime minister questions. That wouldn’t have to be lame if you did it right.

  193. quellcrist falconer says:

    here’s the meme the conservos are pushing Jeff.

    However badly she may stumble during the remaining weeks of this campaign, her supporters will focus their outrage upon the journalist who caused her to break stride, upon the camera operator who happened to capture her fall, upon the television network that broadcast the good lady’s misfortune—and, above all, upon the “liberal elites” with their highfalutin assumption that, in the 21st century, only a reasonably well-educated person should be given command of our nuclear arsenal.

    see? IQ-baiting.
    victimology 101

  194. SteveG says:

    Hi everyone

    I was reading about “astroturfing” and how some in the Obama camp have pissed into the tent instead of out when trying to pass themeselves off as regular folks raising a question or two.
    I’ve also seen the letters to the editor here that start “as a lifelong Christian and Republican… I am voting for Obama… Palin…”

    I didn’t follow the link from which this sprung, but no real need, since it is a classic piece of projection.

    ‘Palin very likely believes that Biblical prophecy is an infallible guide to future events and that we are living in the “end times.” Which is to say she very likely thinks that human history will soon unravel in a foreordained cataclysm of war and bad weather. Undoubtedly Palin believes that this will be a good thing—as all true Christians will be lifted bodily into the sky to make merry with Jesus, while all nonbelievers, Jews, Methodists and other rabble will be punished for eternity in a lake of fire. Like many Pentecostals, Palin may even imagine that she and her fellow parishioners enjoy the power of prophecy themselves.”

    “…very likely..” Twice
    “Palin may even imagine…”

    Some interesting stuff has sprung up around religious debates this year, that is for sure.

    When it comes to things I can imagine about someone I don’t much care for, my imagination suddenly becomes vivid and seems limitless.
    Somehow though I wouldn’t have thought to claim that Palin made rape victims in her meth addled, incest plagued little aboriginal cesspool pay for the rape kits. But now that the field is shiny astroturf, I have testimonials.

    I’d also have never thought to claim that because someone thinks there was/is a Creator, that person must be a creationist.
    Or that talking about the possibilities that surrounds claims of a Creator in schools equals pitching evolution, science and centuries of accumulated knowledge into the shitter along with condoms and sex ed.
    Who knew?

    As an added bonus we get to throw all Methodists into the lake of fire, when everyone knows that we’d have settled for Mormons and Jehovah’s Witness… but only teh colored ones.

  195. happyfeet says:

    Hi back at ya SteveG!

  196. Pablo says:

    You got a link for that, Kate?

  197. guinsPen says:

    Does anyone ever call him Kev?

    Kevni, mostly.

  198. Darleen says:

    Well, it was pretty easy to get caught up on the thread by barely reading Kate Mengele

    Shorter Kate: I want … I want …. I want….

  199. McGehee says:

    The Fairbanks newspaper has a webcam on its site, with a forum just for the webcam.

    Yesterday somebody claiming to be Greek asked what seemed to be a fair question about Palin’s background. Somebody else replied with astroturf-like allegations.

    I followed up by pointing out that one of those claims had been debunked and the other had been deliberate satire and didn’t come from her own mouth.

    Greek boy — not the astroturfer who’d replied to him first — came back and called Palin “this fake woman.”

    So apparently just dropping turds in the punch bowl isn’t always enough for these people, they need to sockpuppet reasonable-sounding questions to justify spouting their lies in a non-political forum.

  200. Daniel Dare says:

    Re: Comment by guinsPen on 9/22 @ 6:11 pm
    Not in my drinking circle, he’s always been Prime Minister Kev.
    mostly Labor voters, though.

  201. Sean M. says:

    Wasn’t this thread originally about the Houston Astros or something? I forget.

  202. Tony LaVanway says:

    OK,Today i went to look for the meaning of the
    word cudlip and the name quellcrist falconer.
    If you don’t know these words,please,please don’t go looking for them.
    That path leads to crappy,leftist,british science fiction.
    It’s truly awful v for vendetta kind of crap.
    You will thank me later.

    Tony
    South Haven,MI

  203. SarahW says:

    “The sloppiness that The Jawa Report noted is indicative of this, because they didn’t take good care to cover their tracks. And perhaps, like too-clever-by-half adolescents, they can’t resist the urge to brag.”

    Exactly. All the glee of little lulzing punks.

  204. Ric Locke says:

    Tony,

    None of that is any mystery. She brags about it.

    Think of her as Cordelia Naismith’s evil twin. Except she got dropped on her head at an early age.

    Regards,
    Ric

  205. cynn says:

    Where is this nefarious ad in question? I can’t seem to find it, but I’m not that adventurous. Sorry in advance, but I’d like to judge it for myself. It’s not the one with the heartbeat thing and Sarah Palin, is it?

  206. cynn says:

    Ok, that’s the one, but I give it the same credence I give any freely dispersed political spot, which is nothing. This is ridiculous; you guys are going to explode this at midnight? I’ll wait up.

  207. cynn says:

    McGehee has gone over the edge and brought Greeks into it. Bring on the Euripides and Eumenides jokes.

  208. Mikey NTH says:

    Astroturfing is just another way of trying to say that the ‘voice of the people’ is going in a certain way. Another form is doing ‘man-in-the-street’ interviews or doing a survey.

    Did you know that four out of five dentists recommend that their patients who chew gum should chew Trident sugarless gum?

    Yep. That. And with enough use astroturfing will fall into the ‘that’s nice’ category also.

  209. Mikey NTH says:

    Tony, I didn’t have to check.
    Knowing the user of the term (and ‘cudlips’=cattle – not a big leap there) I knew it was another little piece of eugenicist/Dr. Mengele fantasy.

    It is still as evil as Treblinka, so feel free to use Kate as the target in an internet version of tetherball, if you want.

  210. Tony LaVanway says:

    I came to those books late,but, i really enjoyed them.

    Tony
    South Haven,MI

  211. Mikey NTH says:

    #208 cynn:

    It isn’t that it so stupid or so discountable; it is that it was intended to be surreptitious, spread a knowing falsehood, and done so obviously.

    If one politician is going to lie about another, at least leave some room for ‘plausible deniability’, for goodness’ sake!

    (And don’t breach NYT v. Sullivan doing it.)

  212. Blitz says:

    Darleen? Not to get too crude, but it’s obvious from this thread that her giganto double action real flesh (black) has blown a fuse.

    I’m thinking that she’s into possibly a 2 hp leaf blower 2 stroke at this point, and STILL can’t get no satisfaction.

  213. Andrew the Noisy says:

    Hmmm…calling down God’s Judgement on the Israelis? Well that tears it!

    Sarah Palin’s a Leftist! I denounce her!

  214. Tony LaVanway says:

    Im not allowed to feed the troll’s.

    Plus im not any good at it,im more a smart-ass remark kind of person.

    Tony
    South Haven,MI

  215. takeshi kovacs says:

    It’s hyperviolent eugenicist, sci fi noir; take Blade Runner, blend it with
    Wanted, and set it the 21st century. It would be hard to adapt it even as an NC-17 screenplay. Richard Morgan is one twisted, Chomsky & Pilger quoting former english teacher with a sadistic streak. Those may be mutually exclusive fields; like a Venn diagram.

  216. McGehee says:

    McGehee has gone over the edge and brought Greeks into it.

    HELLENIST!

  217. McGehee says:

    Also, “Oh, the Eumenides!”

  218. Darleen says:

    Ethan confesses, sort of, with lots of blamey-stuff, too.

  219. Ric Locke says:

    “Euripides?”
    “Yah. Eumenides?”
    “Socratic, jerk.”

    Regards,
    Ric

  220. McGehee says:

    Ric, you’re going to a Hellenic handbasket.

  221. SarahW says:

    Morgan’s book is garbage. To good sci-fi as a harlequin romance is to Austen.

  222. Richard Morgan is one twisted, Chomsky & Pilger quoting

    So, SF for illiterate communists, then?

    Seriously the man a) can’t write and b) doesn’t have a single original idea.

  223. Ric Locke says:

    It’s the shortest version of the joke I know, McGehee. The Platonic Ideal, as it were.

    Regards,
    Ric

  224. cynn says:

    Believe it or not, it’s the only thing I got out of Latin class. Except for ad hoc. Clears the throat.

  225. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Nishi: “You can learn something about a person by the company she keeps.”

    As opposed to the Obamessiah, who demands you ignore the company he keeps?”

    Nishi: “if the qualls for VP are to be ready to replace Septugenarian Guy from day1, how can you seriously say Palin is qualified?”

    Again, asked and answered — but how do you rationalize putting the street agitator at the top of the Democratic ticket?

    Nishi: “Obama’s been pretty clear that he is a christian and disagrees with Rev Wright.”

    Yeah, but only after the Rev. Wright became a political liability… or did you forget the “I could no more disown Reverend Wright than I could disown Black Liberation Theology” speech?

    Really, little girl, if you want a seat at the grown-ups table, you’re really going to have to do a little better than that. But, I suppose your obvious disability — having the memory of an “Etch-a-Sketch” — probably means we all should make some allowances.

  226. Gray says:

    Quellqueef only likes Obama ‘cuz Obama doesn’t like me.

    In fact, the only thing Nishi/Quellqueef hates more than Rural-Americans and Jesus is little bitty babies. Oh, and her uterus, I think.

    (I threw in the “I think” for happyfeet)

  227. Slartibartfast says:

    uns aggin, peeps, du knot feighd the fuggin trolz.

    lulz

  228. Tony LaVanway says:

    “Help us Obama Kenobi,your our only hope”

    Has this been used yet?

    Tony
    South Haven,MI

  229. Tony LaVanway says:

    Does Obama-Wan Kenobi sound better?

    Tony

  230. Tony LaVanway says:

    Help us Obama-Wan Kenobi, your our only hope

    Yeah,sounds better,thanks Maggie.

    Tony

  231. Cowboy says:

    has O! tried to legislate BLT

    Oh God, I hope someone runs on the Bacon Lettuce and Tomato platform!

    That’s hope I can really get behind.

  232. Rob Crawford says:

    Oh God, I hope someone runs on the Bacon Lettuce and Tomato platform!

    Yeah, but if it’s O!, you can bet it’ll be turkey bacon, iceberg lettuce, and genuine Mexican feces-marinated tomatoes.

  233. Sdferr says:

    Stanley Kurtz reports on the CAC, Obama and Ayers in the WSJ this morning.

  234. quellcrist falconer says:

    cthulu fhtagen!
    wake up….
    but we know nothing about Palin.
    she has given zero public interactive Q&A.
    and my prediction is that she won’t, not a crumb, until the vp debates.
    and she doesnt have to have, cuz that is so unfair that she should have to answer questions…..cuz the media is so unfairly against her.
    IQ baiting.
    Palin victimology.
    Oh poor little Sarah, wants to be leader of the unipolar power, but too chickenshit to talk to the press.

  235. Mikey NTH says:

    Obama-One Kenobi?

  236. Mr. Pink says:

    After reading this article and several others I still can not determine if this crap is legal.

  237. quellcrist falconer says:

    wheres your scrappy little lipstickpitbull now?
    duckin and hidin.

    takeshi-san….in this Metaverse the Quellists will prevail in the Technological Singularity.
    Make it personal.
    And the Jesusland construct is a perfect visualization of the old south reborn, the soap and water, family value homophobes, racists, anti-science, anti-public school, anti-technology middle of the bell-curve yeoman farmers.

  238. B Moe says:

    Oh poor little Sarah, wants to be leader of the unipolar power, but too chickenshit to talk to the press.

    What happened to all those Town Hall debates, Han Qing-jao? Anytime, anyplace? Remember that? Why is Obama to chickenshit to debate McCain? Obama is running for President, remember? What is Putin thinking about some chickenshit afraid to debate McCain?

  239. Sad, lonely, ugly little girl.

  240. Mr. Pink says:

    Is anything on this thread about Palin other than people spreading unfounded lies about her? I thought the topic was Obama supporters and campaign staff spreading lies about the Republican VP candidate? This semi-literate cow is just trying to change the subject. I also have to wonder at the sanity of anyone that types lol after their own jokes.

  241. Mr. Pink says:

    You know right now Nishi instead of posting vomit and lies on Jeff’s site you could be saving 15% or more on your car insurance by switching to Geico?

  242. quellcrist falconer says:

    oh i forgot, anti-intellectual.
    religion is self-esteem for ppl that aren’t smart enough to get science.
    ;)

  243. Rob Crawford says:

    iceberg lettuce

    No arugula?

    Arugula has flavor; iceberg lettuce does not. Plus, iceberg lettuce is little more than fiber and water — seems appropriate for O!

  244. Rob Crawford says:

    I also have to wonder at the sanity of anyone that types lol after their own jokes.

    Oh, it’s been long-established that the moron is quite insane. The word salad, often seasoned with declarations of her own intelligence, is ample evidence of that.

  245. Rob Crawford says:

    This semi-literate cow is just trying to change the subject.

    Yep. Her Chosen One cannot stand the light of day, so any attempt to examine his record must be stopped. None of her Chosen One’s supporters can articulate a reason to vote for him, so the other candidates must be attacked, regardless of the dishonesty of the attack.

    You wanna see something funny? Ask the moron who goes by thor to describe Obama’s accomplishments. After a few sputtering barks, he’s reduced to whining about the O! having written a couple(!) of autobiographies.

  246. quellcrist falconer says:

    O has had a dozen press conferences where he took questions in the last 25 days.
    How many has Mccain had?
    McCain, himself, was once the most accessible presidential candidate in modern history; he once pledged to hold weekly news conferences if elected president. But he, himself, has gone 40 days without taking questions from his press corps, his last media availability having been on Aug. 13 in Birmingham, Mich.

    how about Palin?
    It’s been 24 days since Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was introduced to the nation as Sen. John McCain’s choice to be a heartbeat away from leadership of the Free World. And though McCain reassures all skeptics that Palin — who got her first passport two years ago — is “absolutely” prepared to be president, the way campaign officials have protected her from her press corps does not necessarily suggest that they hold her ability to handle such a routine event — a press conference — in high regard.

    The Washington Post editorialized yesterday about this, writing that “McCain’s selection of an inexperienced and relatively unknown figure was unsettling, and the campaign’s decision to keep her sequestered from serious interchanges with reporters and voters serves only to deepen the unease. Mr. McCain is entitled to choose the person he thinks would be best for the job. He is not entitled to keep the public from being able to make an informed assessment of that judgment. Ms. Palin’s speech-making skills are impressive, but the more she repeats the same stump speech lines, the queasier we get. Nor have her answers to the gentle questioning she has encountered provided any confidence that Ms. Palin has a grasp of the issues.”

    McCain/Palin Media Avoidance Watch

  247. Mr. Pink says:

    I heard Juan Cole actually site Obama running his campaign and beating Clinton as experience on a Presidential resume. He sited this as more experience than Palin’s time as a mayor and govenor. My only question is if running successful political campaigns is experience when can we expect Karl Rove to launch his 2012 Presidential bid?

  248. Rob Crawford says:

    OK, the moron learned how to make links. Now — can it think for itself?

    (I’m betting it can’t.)

  249. alppuccino says:

    Obama’s new campaign song:

    Don’t think me unkind.
    Words are hard to find.
    The only cheques Ive left unsigned
    From the banks of chaos in my mind
    When my eloquence escapes me.
    Your logic ties me up and rapes me.

    The uh..uh..ah
    We uh…uh…ah
    Is all I have to say to you.

    My..uh..uh..ah
    Should…uh..uh…ah
    It’s meaningless and all that’s true

    But…uh…uh..ah
    Can…uh…uh…ah
    Hey sweetie let the real men through.

  250. quellcrist falconer says:

    see?
    demagogue.

  251. alppuccino says:

    you get the idea

  252. JD says:

    The Nishitiot drinks from an endless well of stooopidity. Unfortunately, it is stuck in an endless feedback loop, endlessly squawking Memes 1 through 9 of her griefer handbook. A MoDo cocktail might actually make the Monster coherent.

  253. Darleen says:

    Rob

    From Obamessiah’s own lips, accomplishments mean nothing, his track record is his beliefs.

    You may kiss His ring now and swear fidelity.

  254. Darleen says:

    Kate Mengele believes she gets to run McCain’s campaign. “I want…I want…I want….”

  255. Mr. Pink says:

    I think it is hilarious the fact that someone can site running for office, as experience for the office he is running for. That they can do this with a straight face on camera is mind-boggling.

  256. Trimegistus says:

    For God’s sake, ban the monomaniac so we can get some sleep!

  257. Mikey NTH says:

    Of course, campaigning as the ‘blank slate’ does have its disadvantages. Hillary started defining him, and McCain and Palin are finishing the job.

    How giving your enemies all the time and all the space to define you is supposed to be a strength instead of an admission of absolute incoherency is beyond me. Really beyond me.

  258. quellcrist falconer says:

    more IQ-baiting
    Just like Ralph Peters, I KNOW Sarah Palin. Hell, in my younger days, I WAS Sarah Palin. (Well, minus being a crack shot.) The difference is I don’t fetishize my regular-gal roots and assume they make me special–much less qualified to run the country. And while I have indeed witnessed my fair share of cultural snobbery from some of my better-credentialed, coastal colleagues over the years, I’m not so defensive about where I come from that I feel the need to champion a wildly unqualified fellow hick whose politics I disagree with as a way to get back at everyone I know who has ever made a sniffy comment about big hair or small towns.

  259. quellcrist falconer says:

    link

  260. quellcrist falconer says:

    shorter version.
    being a hockeymom, joe sixpack with boobs, doesnt exactly qualify one to run this country.
    if Palin has some other qualifiers, by all means, lets see them.
    show ’em or fold ’em.
    let her at least answer questions from her own presscorps.

  261. quellcrist falconer says:

    pfft….Jeff talks a good game about identity politics, victimology and race baiting.
    but can he walk the walk?

    this is IQ-baiting, pure and simple.

  262. Rob Crawford says:

    Blah, blah, blah.

    Poor widdle baby’s Savior has to run a political campaign now. Poor widdle baby’s gonna cwy!

  263. JD says:

    Whose work are you plagarizing today, nishit?

  264. Darleen says:

    I wonder when SNL will be running a skit that makes jokes about Obama having sex with his daughters. Cuz, you know about them darkies.

  265. Rob Crawford says:

    Oh, Darleen, now you’re gonna have Lisa screeching about how SHE KNEW ALL ALONG!!!!

  266. JD says:

    if Palin has some other qualifiers, by all means, lets see them.

    Howzabout being a Mayor and a Governor, you fuckheaded twit?

  267. Mr. Pink says:

    Don’t bother telling her JD the memo has already been delivered to her. She will keep persisting with it ad naseum much like the people that will continually ask “What is victory in Iraq?” even though it has been explained 300000000 times.

  268. Mark A. Flacy says:

    I knew Ralph Peters when he was the S-2 of the 1-46 Infantry Battalion and he did not appear to have his head firmly jammed up his ass. It’s been 25 years, so perhaps he has changed.

    Nonetheless, I don’t think that you are just like him.

    It would appear that Governor Palin does not assume that her regular-gal roots makes her disqualified to run the country. At least we can agree that you aren’t qualified to run the country, judging by your postings on this blog.

  269. Mikey NTH says:

    From now on I am going to treat any ad coming from a group I’ve never heard of like it was coming straight from the big player himself.

    So long, astroturf.

  270. happyfeet says:

    Whole swaths of America are illegitimate and unworthy of participation in representative democracy. There really are just a select few, a cadre, of people worthy of guiding The State. I think Baracky has a list already. But for real if you’re from the wrong state from the get go or went to some stupid state college or something you should just know better. Don’t embarrass yourself.

  271. happyfeet says:

    I went to a private college by the way. I am so groomed for teh poower my teeth hurt.

  272. happyfeet says:

    Also I’m really good with PowerPoint.

  273. happyfeet says:

    Governor Palin tried to do a PowerPoint and she made inappropriate font selections. I remember. We were all like oh my god who is this person.

  274. quellcrist falconer says:

    c’mon Jeff, cowboy up.
    you have the laser-guided insight into identity politics based on race or gender.
    where is your much vaunted insight here?
    tell me why this isn’t IQ-baiting then.
    go right ahead.

  275. JD says:

    Those of us that attended midwestern land grant universities are shit outta luck, huh happy?

  276. JD says:

    When nishit’s demonstrable IQ surpasses the European score at the Ryder Cup, then and only then, will she deserve anything other than open mockery.

  277. quellcrist falconer says:

    “it would appear that Governor Palin does not assume that her regular-gal roots makes her disqualified to run the country”

    im fine with that.
    but neither do her regular-gal roots qualify her.
    i just want to see her quit duckin the media cuz they are gonna “Be So Mean and Unfair to her” and lay some actual qualifications on the electorate.
    my hypothesis is that she has no actual qualifications and the ooooh-mean-media IQ-baiting is just an excuse for her to run as a demagogue.

  278. thor says:

    It’s becoming clearer and clearer that I was right from the beginning. Sister Palin is a big-titted shit-weasel.

    Nice try God-wingered Redumblicans but your weasel ain’t floating. I won’t be surprised if she announces she is (or that other daughter) preggo to dry and drum up the virgin Mary vote. Poor birth cow didn’t have the chops in the end.

  279. thor says:

    dry = try

  280. Ubiquitous Helvetica,
    Arial, Times-Courier
    in teeny pt size straining eyes
    Im a concerned conservative worrier!

  281. happyfeet says:

    “midwestern” “land grant” “universities” you mean?

  282. Tim S. Roman says:

    FINALLY! The truth is coming out.

  283. Mikey NTH says:

    Looks like the astroturfers confessed. (see Treacher)
    The Lightworker’s liars.

    Another group under the bus, which must be the size of RMS Olympic. Such a well-organized campaign, to have to shed workers and advisors and associates whith such speed. “That is not the advertising firm I thought I had hired!”

  284. Slartibartfast says:

    I see that DNFTFT keeps falling on deaf ears.

    Please, people. You’re arguing with a nitwit that thinks you can move a normalized distribution off of its mean.

  285. thor says:

    #

    Comment by JD on 9/23 @ 8:03 am #

    if Palin has some other qualifiers, by all means, lets see them.

    Howzabout being a Mayor and a Governor, you fuckheaded twit?

    Mayor of two-shit Wasilla and a few months as corrupt governor of Alaska?

    Try and sell that bridge to nowhere to somebody else because we ain’t buyin’ it.

  286. happyfeet says:

    Baracky never was a mayor. Baracky never was a governor. No one has ever looked at Baracky and said hey let’s put him in charge. In fairness I think though if Baracky had gotten bogged down with a bunch of responsibilities it would have been a lot harder for him to focus on getting to be president.

  287. quellcrist falconer says:

    thor, that is unacceptable.
    Palin is a perfectly nice person and a mostly good mother.
    However she appears to be profoundly unqualified to be CinC and POTUS, and Team McCain is exploiting IQ identity politics and practicing IQ-baiting to avoid having the electorate find out just how much of a demagogue Palin is.

  288. thor says:

    Your bullshit balloon has fallen from the sky.

  289. JD says:

    my hypothesis is that she has no actual qualifications

    SHOCKA! Yet another bullshit hypothesis based on complete unadulterated bullshit.

  290. thor says:

    294 for 292

    There’s a lot of nice people out there and guess what, they don’t get to play quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. Tears! Peyton Manning is better at QB.

    If Sister Palin was running for county wet nurse she’d have a strong resume. Outside of that she’s a two-bit flake… and a welfare Hick!

  291. happyfeet says:

    Baracky says hey I’m more better pezzydent than that stupid Alaska woman could ever be and you can tell cause I been on the cover of Time magazine like this many times already.

  292. thor says:

    A token tit-owner, that’s all Palin is.

    I’d vote for nishi before I’d vote for that corrupt air-headed bitch from Alaska, and I think nishi would suck ass.

  293. happyfeet says:

    I think nishi might would get bored.

  294. Sdferr says:

    People don’t look at Baracky and say, “hey let’s put him in charge” is right, instead they look at Baracky and say, “hey, I can be in charge of him” and away they go.

  295. thor says:

    No offense nishi. I wouldn’t vote for myself either.

  296. Pablo says:

    Palin’s qualifications? She gets people to vote for her. That’s really the only one that matters.

  297. McGehee says:

    I heard Juan Cole actually site Obama running his campaign and beating Clinton as experience on a Presidential resume. He sited this as more experience than Palin’s time as a mayor and govenor.

    Ignoring, of course, Palin’s primary-election thrashing of an “experienced” Republican incumbent governor, followed by her November thrashing of Alaska’s most popular Democrat (and two-terrm former governor) to become governor in her own right.

    If people want to argue that O!’s presidential campaign counts as experience, they’re not going to find it all that helpful.

  298. Rob Crawford says:

    I think nishi might would get bored.

    You’d think either of them would get bored, but apparently the mentally deficient are easily amused.

  299. JD says:

    However she appears to be profoundly unqualified to be CinC and POTUS

    As opposed to Baracky, who appears to be profoundly unqualified to be CinC and POTUS, since he has less experience than Gov. Palin.

  300. quellcrist falconer says:

    “Palin’s qualifications? She gets people to vote for her. That’s really the only one that matters.”

    and that is exactly the qualifications of a demagogue.

  301. happyfeet says:

    Baracky doesn’t have any experience at all actually leading things. He is on a journey of self-discovery. Either way whatever happens he will write a book with his Baracky thoughts about the whole thing. Writing memoirs is the punctuation of a life well lived I think. Make a stab at maybe kind of doing something. Write a memoir. Make another stab at maybe kind of doing something. Write a memoir. Some people think that’s unusual but it’s important that Baracky document these things.

  302. Dread Cthulhu says:

    Nishi: “but we know nothing about Palin.”

    Not unlike Obama, who refuses to release anything beyond the bare minimum, whilst demanding transparency out of his opposition. When will Barry be releasing the whole of his medical file, etc.?

    Nishi: “she has given zero public interactive Q&A.”

    As opposed “Ummmm-bama” and Joe “gaffe-a-day” Biden?

    Nishi: “and my prediction is that she won’t, not a crumb, until the vp debates. and she doesnt have to have, cuz that is so unfair that she should have to answer questions…..cuz the media is so unfairly against her.”

    Uh-huh… and the media’s slavish pursuit of rumor, innuendo and smear where Palin is concern, whilst giving Barry a pass on Ayers and CAC, is something other than prima facie evidence of a double standard? Do you imagine that SNL would put forth a skit suggesting the Obamessiah was mistreating his daughters in any fashion?

    Nishi: “However she appears to be profoundly unqualified to be CinC and POTUS, and Team McCain is exploiting IQ identity politics and practicing IQ-baiting to avoid having the electorate find out just how much of a demagogue Palin is.”

    As opposed to Obama, who is profoundly unqualified to be C-in-C and POTUS, with Team Obama exploiting racial identity politics and practice race-baiting to avoice having the electoral find out just how unqualified and unprepared Barak Obama is.

    Y’see, Nishi, your bootstrap levitation is simply not persuasive. You also still haven’t managed to explain away the fact that Obama suffers most of the same weaknesses as Palin, but he’s at the top of the Democratic ticket. He is equally as evasive on his background. He’s a street organizer — he’s got a nice suit and a good patter, but there’s no there there.

  303. McGehee says:

    I’ve seen in various venues a lot of attempts to “qualify” Obama by quoting lines from his resume.

    The thing I’ve noticed is, they can never name anything he’s done.

    Sarah Palin and that old guy on her ticket, they’ve got accomplishments they can point to. Obama and Biden, not so much.

    But hey, Obama gets people to vote for him. That’s all he’s got, and he’s hoping it will be enough, for a change.

  304. happyfeet says:

    Nancy Pelosi’s huge ripe for suckling breasts are a lot demagogic too I think. I remember when she got to be speaker NPR was gushy gushy about what a big step for teh womens it was. A really big step cause Nancy Pelosi had five children and even more grandchildren and she wasn’t just a grandmother she was AMERICA’s grandmother, so fecund was her womby womb.

  305. happyfeet says:

    Condi has no chirren so she need not apply. Nancy disdains.

  306. Rob Crawford says:

    Nancy Pelosi’s huge ripe for suckling breasts are a lot demagogic too I think.

    Dude! I just ate!

    (If people vote for O! does that make him a demagogue, too?)

  307. McGehee says:

    Hell, I could pimp my resume to look pretty damned impressive. Especially if I didn’t go into detail about my duties in some of the positions I’ve held.

    Or how long I held them.

    Or whether anyone I worked with still remembers me.

  308. Mr. Pink says:

    In a thread about astroturfing Palin the trolls are astroturfing Palin. How ironic.

  309. MAJ (P) John says:

    “Comment by happyfeet on 9/23 @ 9:00 am #

    Also I’m really good with PowerPoint.”

    You would fit in well, in many government offices…

  310. thor says:

    Thread killer!

  311. SteveG says:

    The media uses Obama’s autobiography as source material. “It’s on page 164…”

    So there.

Comments are closed.