Election Central Saturday Roundup
Palin: My Comments About The Country Of Africa Were "Taken Out Of Context"
Sarah Palin is defending herself from the allegation that she thought Africa was a single country, and not a continent: "If there are allegations based on questions or comments I made in debate prep about NAFTA -- about the continent versus the country when we talk about Africa there -- then those were taken out of context." Note: There is no such country that is simply called "Africa."
McCain To Do Post-Election Appearance With Leno
John McCain will do his first post-defeat TV appearance on Jay Leno, going a similar route as Bob Dole's 1996 appearances on comedy shows in order to give the public a positive and light-hearted image. McCain will stop by the show on Tuesday, in honor of Veteran's Day.
Bill Ayers Speaks: McCain And Palin Lost Points From Attacking Me
In a new essay for In These Times, Bill Ayers comments on how his past associations with Barack Obama became a spectacle in this election. "The good news was that every time McCain or Palin mentioned my name, they lost a point or two in the polls," Ayers writes. "The cartoon invented to hurt Obama was now poking holes in the rapidly sinking McCain-Palin ship."
GOP Rep. Reichert Narrowly Wins Re-Election
Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) has been projected the winner in his rematch against 2006 Democratic opponent Darcy Burner, who has now conceded the race. With 81% of votes counted, Reichert leads by a 52%-48% margin, and the remaining votes are not likely to change the situation significantly.
Goode's Opponent Declares Victory, But Recount Looms
Tom Perriello, the Democratic challenger against right-wing Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA), has declared victory with current results showing him ahead by 745 votes out of over 316,000 total votes cast. Goode has not conceded, and a recount is likely to occur, which would delay an official verdict on the race for several weeks.
Democrats Pick Up GOPer Gilchrest's Seat In Maryland
Democrats have picked up a deep-red House seat in Maryland, with Democrat Frank Kratovil defeating Republican Andy Harris by a narrow margin. Harris won the Republican nomination in a primary challenge against the incumbent moderate GOP Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, who then turned around after his defeat and campaigned for Kratovil.
McCain Headed To Georgia For Chambliss
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) will be getting some major help in his upcoming runoff against Dem challenger Jim Martin: John McCain, who carried Georgia 52%-47%, and will be coming to the state to campaign for Chambliss' re-election. The runoff could potentially have lower turnout than the November election, so it will become all about which party can better energize and bring out its base.
Chambliss Uses 9/11 Imagery In New Ad
Check out this ad from Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), as he heads into his December runoff against Democrat Jim Martin:
"When our country was under attack, we trusted Saxby Chambliss," the announcer says to images of 9/11. What's next -- will Chambliss redo his old ads from 2002 tying Dem incumbent Max Cleland to Osama bin Laden, and just Photoshop in Jim Martin?
"the continent versus the country"
Yep, I heard all the news shows cover her statements on Africa last night and nobody seemed to point out that she still may not understand what it is.
November 8, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, when I heard her say that on CNN, I was hoping someone would have pointed out that there is not country called Africa, but I guess we still have a lot of work to do on the journalism front.
She basically confirmed what the source said about Palin not knowing Africa was a continent. And the fact that 62% of republicans want her to run in 2010 shows our country is get dumb...
Watch: Obama Roasted Rahm Emanuel in 2005
November 8, 2008 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
No worries, using a 30% registered Republicans, that comes to only 19.2% of registered voters. When you think about it that way, its a joke. Less people want her to run in 2012 than approve of W's job as current president
November 8, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, the thing is that I don't believe she doesn't know. I think she is just reflexively incoherent. She has simply never learned to communicate her thoughts with any reasonable degree of cogency and so she talks like a nervous teenage c- student. I can listen to her and tell that she is a person who has not read very much good writing and has not spent much time thinking through ideas and how best to express them.
The bad news for her is that it is much more difficult to learn good communication skills then it is to acquire basic knowledge. Being able to speak clearly begins with being able to think clearly and she has an enormous deficit in that regard. The good news is that we have many successful politicians including some presidents who are quite similarly deficient.
November 8, 2008 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
You'd think she would've learned how to speak clearly as a communications-journalism major at U of Idaho, or while she was a sports reporter in Anchorage. (Okay, maybe not so much that last one.)
November 8, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
i disagree.
even someone with bad talking skills can still make you understand that they know what they are talking about.
is she that ignorant?
just the idea that it is possible is more damaging then the idea that its a lie.
November 8, 2008 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
The problem with Palin is that she has the same combination of willful ignorance and character pathology that beset Bush. She doesn't have the wherewithal to be insightful about her limitations, and she's too narcissistic to imagine that they matter.
November 10, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe by the country she meant South Africa.
November 8, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you really want to stump her, ask her how many countries are on the continent of Australia? Betcha she doesn't know, and won't guess the correct number because of the whole Africa thingy!
PEACE
November 8, 2008 7:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
HEY! EVERYBODY! -
Get out that unused credit card (use it so that the bank doesn't close your account out) and go right now to Jim Martin's campaign website and make a contribution. Help defeat god damned Chambliss! -
http://www.martinforsenate.com
November 8, 2008 11:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
"If there are allegations based on questions or comments I made in debate prep about NAFTA -- about the continent versus the country when we talk about Africa there -- then those were taken out of context."
Not exactly a denial, is it?
GINGRICH/PALIN 2012! Because four years out of power is nowhere near enough.
November 8, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, vote Saxby Chambliss: keep the KKK safe from Islamofascists.
What the fuck did Chambliss do to protect Georgia after 9-11?
November 8, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
smear a veteran?
November 8, 2008 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Dems have lots of money left. I suggest that they put together a 30 minute documentary on the Chambliss campaign against Cleland and air it on network outlets in GA right before the runoff. Show the people who might not realize it the moral fiber of the man representing them in the Senate.
November 8, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Which makes me wonder how John McCain can stomach going to GA and campaigning for Chambliss. He smeared a veteran--a paraplegic amputee, no less.
But then, I guess McCain didn't really come to Kerry's aid when bush was smearing him, either. Not until things were way out of hand and the damage was done.
Says more to me about McCain than it does Chambliss.
November 8, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't typically stoop to the "treasonous scum" dept., but I feel it was criminal what Chambliss did to Max Cleeland. There exists a line of decency that we must bring back to our world.
For example, when was the last time you heard this: I disagree with you, but I will fight to the extent of my own rights your right to say it.
I heard it a lot as a kid. Not so much this century.
Obama has this decency; may a critical mass of us finally get it.
November 8, 2008 1:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
This column by Dave Barry is for you. (in light of this:
)Link: Vote for more martinis for everyone: Dave Barry
November 8, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I do hope someone asks McCain about this. Does he condone what Cahmbliss did then?
November 8, 2008 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Has Georgia (the state) been attacked by Al Qaeda since 9/11?
See? Chambliss is doing a heckuva job.
November 8, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's well known that terrorists hate us because of our peaches.
November 8, 2008 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!!!
November 8, 2008 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
To me the bigger point isn't that he's trying to claim credit for responding to a disaster that occurred over a year before he was elected, but that he rolled out 9/11 footage. Any politician that uses 9/11 fottage in a political ad can go f#$k himself. (I'm looking at you, Dubya. Hell no, I ain't forgot.) Can you imagine an Israeli politician using footage in a political ad? See also Keith's rant following the RNC.
We need to take this guy down.
November 8, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
DOH!
That should be, "Can you imagin an Isaeli politician using holocaust footage in a political ad?"
November 8, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
hes appealing to the red-neck idiots that band together based on fake ideas of being patriotic.
you see, when you love your country its ok to be racist biggots who hate anything not white.
its very simple and he knows it.
November 8, 2008 7:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
HEY! EVERYBODY! -
Get out that unused credit card (use it so that the bank doesn't close your account out) and go right now to Jim Martin's campaign website and make a contribution. Help defeat god damned Chambliss! -
http://www.martinforsenate.com
November 8, 2008 11:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, but she didn't say that. She said, Africa There.
It illustrates her point about youz guys taking things out of context there.
November 8, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jerks!
November 8, 2008 1:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
...out of context there also too!
November 8, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
You betcha!
Actually, I suspect she didn't know about those countries and (in)continents before her debate prep, but I'm sure she does now. As allastair said above, she just doesn't articulate it coherently.
Her appendage of there says to me she knows she didn't get it exactly right, but close enough to be figured out. Kind of a verbal hand-waving gesture.
November 8, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Her new book: The Joy of Verbage.
November 8, 2008 8:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
She didn't know.
Nobody will ever convince me otherwise - the bitch is that stupid.
And this idea that she is just "unintelligent" which means she isn't really stupid, just uninformed, is breathtaking bullshit.
Somebody tell me how somebody who isn't stupid gets to 44 years old without knowing that Africa is a goddamn continent and that the United States is part of another continent? And she did know that.
She is not just uninformed and she could not just learn this shit. She's stupid. Dumb. Not capable. Her picnic basket is empty!
November 8, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
did not know that - dammit.
November 8, 2008 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I might be hallucinating, but didn't W once refer to Africa as a country?
November 8, 2008 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know - I don't remember that. Interestingly enough, however - he knows now if he didn't because you have to give Cmmdr Coocoo some credit - he did a lot for Africa rather quietly.
November 8, 2008 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Africa is a nation that suffers terrible disease."
November 8, 2008 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
She certainly is unintelligible.
November 8, 2008 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
November 8, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Umm...might be wrong, but didn't she grow up for a significant chunk of time in Idaho? I think she graduated in Alaska, but she lived in Idaho when she was younger, at least for a while.
S'pose I could do the google, cuz after all it is a series of tubes waiting to be used to do the whatchamacallit there. Like.
Y'know. K?
November 8, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right on TeenaX. I have had too many damn discussions with friends of mine who say she can't be that bad and I say just that - she is a STUPID bitch. Even I would have had enough sense to lie and tell Katie that I read the Wall Street Journal and The Anchorage Daily News. The woman doesn't read, doesn't care, and can't do.
November 8, 2008 7:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Palin is willfully ignorant. Where it isn't about being stupid or lacking knowledge it is about not ever wanting to acquire new information because it may burst your bubble and make you re-examine your beliefs. It is the adult equivalent of putting your fingers in your ears, closing your eyes, and making loud noises.
November 10, 2008 12:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
God I hope Palin runs for the Senate when they kick Stevens out. She is the gift that keeps on giving.
November 8, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
And also.
I'm beginning to think Eric has a Saharan sense of humor, and all those headlines about the lead "shrinking" and "widening" really were just to rile up commenters.
November 8, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
O I figured that out finally - after you began pointing it out.
;)
November 8, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
The words "taken out of context" mean "Yeah I said that, but I didn't mean it the way you think I could have meant it". Basically she is admitting saying that Africa may have been a country.
November 8, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
November 8, 2008 1:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really didn't say all those things I said. --Yogi Berra
November 8, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just can't get my head around the fact that 64% of Republicans want Palin to run for president in 2012, according to the latest Rasmussen poll.
November 8, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I find that wonderful. Palin could definitely win a Republican primary. Remember their main criteria is "are you one of us? Can I hang out with you?" not "Can you lead me and allow my country to be better than it was 4 years ago?"
November 8, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
That would be about 64% of 34% or so of the population.
Let them have their fantasy. By 2010, she will be forgotten - they'll have moved on.
Betcha. [wink]
November 8, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lots of time for substantiation of her fast and loose ethics style. If that doesn't sink her, let the idiots nominate her in 2012, it would just increase the likelihood that we'll trounce them again.
November 8, 2008 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
November 8, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
If she was planning on staying up in Alaska, she wouldn't give a pound of moose shit about what anyone says about her. But since she's thinks she's the darling of the Party for 2012, she's out to hunt down and destroy anyone who makes derogatory statements about her - that's why she wants to know who her accusers are. Gotta keep that pristine image clean at all costs.
November 8, 2008 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
My guess is that Sarah Palin mentioned Africa in response to a debate prep question asking which are the nations participating in NAFTA. After all, there are two "A's" in NAFTA, and Palin always looked like she was trying wing it: "in what respect Charlie".
November 8, 2008 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
My respect for the Old Dominion jumps ups several notches for their exercising sanity and sending Rocky Mount's village idiot, Virgil Goode, packing back home. He's probably blaming his election loss on MooHahMed.
November 8, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to suggest that Palin is anything other than ignorant, however since she still refers to a country AND a continent, I'm starting to think her stumbling block is that she has never quite grasped the fact that the "South" in "South Africa" is part of the name and not merely a description.
Not really HER fault since it wasn't mentioned in the Book Of Revelations.
November 8, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I heard something about "south africa" too so I wonder if that's it. Someone said. "No, that's a country." And she said, "You mean there's an Africa AND a South Africa?"
(Homer Simpson: there's a NEW Mexico?)
November 8, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
A couple of thoughts:
First, Andrew Sullivan's description of Palin - "I don't think she is dumb; she is just proudly ignorant, a cynical opportunist and a pathological liar."
Second - I hope the remnants of the Republican party do nominate her and follow he off into the wilderness.
And third - being from Georgia.... We are a bunch of red neck idiots here. Chambliss will win the runoff.
November 8, 2008 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Sullivan pretty much nails Palin with that description. She's not stupid. But she, like a depressing number of people, revel in their ignorance.
November 8, 2008 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ignorance is not painful.
November 8, 2008 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ignorance is painless,
It prevents many changes,
And I could take or leave it...
If I believed in choice!
November 8, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
November 8, 2008 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ignorance is only painful to people who put up with it, not the ones' with the disease.
November 8, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok, here's where I just do not get this and I'm in the minority here - everybody else I talk to agrees with y'all - she's not dumb but ignorant.
I don't get that. If you aren't stupid, then you do not end up pig ignorant like she is - you pick shit up whether you want to or not and a person who is not stupid will pick up somewhere that there are continents and Africa is one of them.
I do not understand this distinction y'all make between ignorant and stupid - she's not been locked in isolation - her whole life.
I don't agree that there is a difference between being stupid and being ignorant - not in her position.
November 8, 2008 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
The distinction for me is this: an ignorant person is capable of learning new things if they are curious. Some people are ignorant, and curious, and their ignorance can be wiped away. Some people (Sarah? I'm talking about YOU) are ignorant and incurious.
And then there are dumb people. They are ignorant because they lack the capacity, even if they wanted to, to relieve that ignorance. I do not see Sarah Palin in this category. Norm Coleman? Yes.
November 8, 2008 2:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I get the distinction.
I think the problem is that I don't see her that way. I see her as lacking the capacity.
November 8, 2008 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
FWIW, I somewhat agree with you, Tena, although I'd say she's a little bit stupid and a little bit ignorant stemming from a lack of curiosity.
Also, unfortunately what some of us might consider "stupid" might also be considered "of average intellect". For example, I'm not sure that the average person is smart enough to be a lawyer, even if s/he were given the opportunity. (OTOH, Dan Quayle was a lawyer…)
November 8, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
If someone is intelligent but ignorant, they know they are ignorant and know what to do about correcting that ignorance.
If someone is stupid as well as ignorant, they don't realize they are ignorant (or stupid), but if they have extreme self-confidence, they can convince themselves it doesn't matter whether others see them as ignorant or stupid.
Sarah Palin and George W. Bush are in the same category.
November 8, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, stupid can mean either ignorant OR unintelligent or both. It's an "overloaded" term.
My take: She's reasonably intelligent but lazy. Same as intellectually disinterested.
She's bimbo'ed her way through life, and it's worked pretty well for her so far. She's not interested in thinking hard about anything. She's not interested in questioning any of her beliefs, preconceptions, or prejudices.
November 8, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree she's bimboed her way through so far and I think it really stings that it didn't really work this time - she got in too deep.
Heh.
November 8, 2008 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. Wink wink wink and guy all fall for me, what the fuck else should I do?
November 8, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do those terms have clearly defined type and parameter signatures? Can they be differentiated via type inference and parameter count? If not, they are not overloaded.
November 9, 2008 12:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
They certainly suffer from the debilitating disease known as multiple inheritance.
November 9, 2008 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
TeenaX I am on your side. NO WAY would any public person give interviews like she did with Gibson and Couric if they had HALF a wit. She is a high school prom queen that can read a telaprompter, that's it end of story. Yea, she's looking for those that are disloyal to her like she is going to do something to them. You know, I always thought Alaska was part of American - don't they get the news up there? I don't mean to be snide but doesn't she watch TV? She makes Shrub look slightly above average.
November 8, 2008 8:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
IMO...Ignorance is willfully ignoring the obvious because it doesn't fit with a preconceived concept.
It's what happens to people who get in over their heads. Kinda like the Peter Principle. They were good at one stage in their careers, then they get promoted to a level above their competence level. Instead of adapting, they rely on their old talents that are counter-productive for the task at hand so production begins to taper off, people become disgusted and temper flare, and high turn-over plagues the department.
November 8, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sadly, I have to agree with you about this. And most of the ignorant red neck idiots around here don't think Chambliss did anything wrong to Cleland...they bought into the Coulter propoganda hook, line, and sinker.
November 8, 2008 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
The most interesting part of her comment for me was the "those were taken out of context" defense while ever-so-deftly not mentioning what the correct context would have been. Or for that matter could have been.
I actually thought that the McCain people, who have repeatedly demonstrated that they are inveterate liars, were at least embellishing some of this Sarah stuff. Her non-denial denial makes it clear that the McCain creeps are being reasonably accurate about Our Sarah.
November 8, 2008 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Spiffy avatar...
November 8, 2008 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Indeed.
I hear the bitchiness in the aides' revelations, but I also am hearing how very much she earned it. She's not a diva? Give me a break - the whole fucking family are divas. You can't tell me First Dude doesn't throw fits if he doesn't get his fair share.
Fucking grifters. If the Repugs who are left really want 'em - then I hope to hell they do take them and they'll all be picked clean by the time they figure out they've been had. Since they seem to be in total denial now over how badly they've been had by the Palins.
Goddamn - how dumb do you have to be before the Right thinks you're too dumb?
November 8, 2008 1:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Grifters.
You nailed it.
November 8, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jon Stewart did a hilarious riff on the Palins-as-grifters last week...
November 10, 2008 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Grifters is an excellent label.
(And movie, too. I love John Cusack).
November 8, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
John Cusack - me too - get in line. He's another one of those guys - LOL!
They remind me of the Riches, if y'all have seen that show. The Riches are charming because it's Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. But the scam is the very same. A bunch of hillbillies who move into someone else's affluent life and pretend to not be hillbillies.
November 8, 2008 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
And if there had been any true journalists in the room, they would have asked her to put the comments in their proper context.
But they just let it go.
November 8, 2008 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Africa is just the place with all those brown people. You betcha!
OT: I guess Missouri is sitting this election out...?
November 8, 2008 1:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
The count was suspended when they ran out of fingers and toes. If anybody ever tells you a pig won't eat a thumb, they's WRONG.
November 8, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
My guess is they are so pissed that they may lose their "bellwhether" status, that they are frantically trying to steal votes for Obama. LOL!
November 9, 2008 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Forty years ago, when TV and movies still had ample offerings of WWII based dramas and even comedies like Hogan's Heroes, a friend of mine, who later went on to become a pharamacist, was astounded to find out in senior year world history that the United States had fought Germany in WWII. She thought WWII was the war against Japan.
It's even worse now when the liberal arts are considered not worth bothering about. I'd like to see graduating MBA's be given a test on history and geography. It would be a hoot!
November 8, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Last year a study was released showing how little high school seniors knew of history and geography. If I recall correctly, something like 75 percent thought in WWII we were allied with Germany against Russia.
November 8, 2008 2:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the time to poke fun at Sarah Palin has passed. Wouldn't it be better if the media completely ignored her, rather than send their press teams up to Alaska to capture her ignorant soundbites?
November 8, 2008 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. The more she's in the news, the more she'll think the country needs her. Out of sight/out of mind and she'll disappear from the national consciousness once and for all.
November 8, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, per Washington Monthly's Steve Benen, Chris Dodd is now defending Lieberman and making excuses for him. Wha??? I am flummoxed. Why are Dems rushing to defend that louse? What is the strategy here? How can any Dem think it's a good idea to let Lieberman have subpoena power over an Obama administration? How can the party ask the public for doantions and loyalty when they want to reward that turncoat??? Does Lieberman have photos of Dem senators in a state of undress?
November 8, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Y'all just seem to think that senators who are on opposite sides hate each other.
You know they don't. They work together and there are all kinds of deals going on all the time behind the scenes for votes, and it has to do with taking care of their constituents, their donors, their districts.
Lieberman has seniority -
November 8, 2008 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
On Countdown last night someone (Wolffe maybe?) was saying the senators genuinely like Lieberman, as hard as that is to imagine. He also made a point of saying this did not hold true for Ted Stevens--no one, apparently, likes that guy.
November 8, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Everybody liked Bob Packwood (R-OR), too, but they still voted him off the island--or were prepared to--when he stuck his tongue down all those female staffers' throats.
And he wasn't even charged with a crime--not yet, anyway (and still never has been).
My point is, just because they like him doesn't mean they'll stick up for him in the end.
November 8, 2008 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I heard on local NPR that Dodd is arguing the Lieberman be allowed to stay in the caucus, but I didn't hear him say anything about his chairmanship position.
I'm sending letters to Dodd's office.
November 8, 2008 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I want him off the Homeland Security Committee - that is what concerns me the most.
November 8, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Zimbabwe?
;)
November 8, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good point. Hadn't thought of that.
OTOH, I'd be inclined to cut Chris Dodd a bit of slack, simply because he shares the same home state of CT with Joe LieberSchmuck.
November 8, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent point. Lieberman having power is good for CT, which would be a simple explanation for Dodd defending him. (That, and what Tena said.)
November 8, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Reid said that Liebermann was on the Democrats side 99% of the time. So I can see the trouble they have with tossing him out of the caucus. However, they can't let his actions during this election to go unpunished. Perhaps a public apology as a token of atonement for his rash and uncouth actions would be in order.
This whole episode is a task for the Democrats to reconcile. Unfortunately, Liebermann has the upper hand at the moment and is able to influence to final outcome in his favor. He still has some legislative leverage that can be used by either side of the isle to pass or thwart bills. The Democrats have to decide how much damage could he cause if he were to caucus with the repugs and if they could work around any obstacles thrown at them.
November 8, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, maybe SFC Wallace can make a cameo appearance back here at TPM and explain why Chambliss is a true 'merican.
November 8, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Unlike Max Cleland?
November 8, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Also, gotta love that Nate Silver take on the Alaskan Senate race. . .it ain't over till it's over.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/uncounted-votes-may-push-begich-past.html
November 8, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Josh just posted this entry in the front page.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/243605.php
How could Coleman block it? It's headed for automatic recount under the MN law, no?
November 8, 2008 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't ask me - I didn't quite get that myself.
November 8, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin thought that NAFTA is how elitists say NIFTY.
November 8, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Listening to Palin's answers to reporters is an exercise in futility if anyone was hoping to get soe useful information. Everyting that comes out of her mouth is a jumble of illogic, non sequiturs, posturing, and obfuscation.
Asked about the RNC coming for her wardrobe: “There is no clothes audit, except for when the belly of the plane got cleaned out, all the piles of the clothes that they had in there, they wanted me at my house to go through it and box things up and send it,” So there is no clothes audit, except for the clothes audit.
"I never asked for anything more than a Diet Dr. Pepper once in a while." So they forced the clothes on you, Todd, and the kids, including the silk boxer shorts? And those staffers insisted on running up tens of thousands on their own credit cards for you.
"Those are the RNC's clothes. They're not my clothes. I never forced anybody to buy anything." Why do you have the RNC's clothes? How did they get into your possession and why didn't they stay with the RNC? Didn't force them, but sure didn't mind piling on the excesses. Quite the entitled one, aren't we Mrs. Palin.
November 8, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a direct quote from an interview with Palin by the Anchorage Daily News :
Sounds more like a skip on an old LP record. Perhaps that's what we can't understand the meter of her speech. She grew up in Wasilla listening to old and scratched LP records.
November 8, 2008 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Goddamn it, lady, who stupid do you think we are? What is the RNC going to do with a whole pile of couture that fits you like it was made for you? You don't make shit on resale - even couture. You don't get back 1/8 of the layout for it.
This is the stupidest fucking excuse ever. What does the RNC want with a bunch of used couture? They can't return it bitch - the stores take a dim view of that.
I cannot stand this another second - it's too stupid for words.
November 8, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
How stupid....
it really defeats the snark to make those kinds of mistakes.
November 8, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I sorta like the "who stupid".
: )
November 8, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
She exasperates me to the point where everything flies out the window.
The upside is that she has this same effect on every woman in the country who isn't batshit insane.
LMAO!
November 8, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
My friend is in Miami celebrating his birthday with his boyfriend. He called me and we were talking politics and he brought up Palin. Knowing how I would react he (unknown to me) put me on speaker phone so his boyfriend could hear me start yelling. They were both laughing thier asses off. The idea that she is next in line to run the country I live in makes me want to scream until they lock me up. She is unfuckingbelievable.
November 8, 2008 8:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to worry. What you meant was obvious. The snark came through loud and clear.
November 8, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Steve Schmidt gave an interview yesterday about McCain's campaign and it is very revealing. Among other things, he said the party is basically regional now, has no message, he knew McCain was going to lose in late September. There is much more, you guys have to read it.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-11-07/mccain-campaign-autopsy//p/
November 8, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sunday Funnies line-up:
Podesta will appear on CNN and Fox
Jarrett will appear on NBC
Emanuel will appear on ABC and CBS
November 8, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
A fundamental lack of understanding about how things work.
Much less continents.
Jesus.
www.MacYapper.blogspot.com
November 8, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
"...But one, perhaps the most obvious and substantive, has gone little mentioned. Simply put, he was terrible at it. Lieberman's committee is the senate investigations and oversight committee, the senate's counterpart to Rep. Henry Waxman's committee in the House. And if you remember a lot about Waxman's..." -Josh Marshall
That would depend on your perspective. Actually, according to a Bush view, Lieberman did an 'excellent' job... protecting Bush's ass by making sure no investigations were undertaken by his committee. WTF Josh??? What are you thinking??
If Lieberman retains his chairmanship of the oversight committee he will say "Well, you said I wasn't doing enough investigating...blah blah blah", as he starts Clinton-like witch hunts aimed at the Obama administration.
DON'T BE FOOLED... Lieberman knows that his future advancement depends on a republican administration and will do everything in his power to ensure they get a majority in 2010 or a new administration in 2012. They will reward his efforts if he uses his committee to demean the Obama administration.
He claims he supported McCain because of his good 'conscience'...which is also why he caucuses with the dems but remove his chairmanship and his 'conscience' goes with it as he threatens to caucus with republicans as retribution. His good 'conscience' is apparently up for sale...which should be enough to make senate dems drop him from leadership positions. In plain terms...He is a backstabbing black mailing traitor whose only concern is self advancement and therefore can never be trusted and will continue to damage the party. Jerusalem Joe has got to go, even if he leaves with Reid's balls in his mouth.
November 8, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
No wonder it's Harry Reid who is the majority leader - everybody else has too big and fragile an ego to take this kind of abuse.
The guy was running almost a 50-50 Senate with an extremely hostile Executive and he cannot get a break even from his own side.
November 8, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Reid was a boxer in his younger days so he knows how to fight toe-to-toe and that's what the last two years have been for him.
November 8, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can hardly picture that... (rolling eyes).
November 8, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
He grew up in a mining town...Searchlight, Nevada.
November 8, 2008 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorta like Father Mulcahy.
November 8, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I meant that Lieberman will try everything possible to maintain his status and chair...including 'deeply threatening Reid and hanging on to him for dear life'. Reid may have to pry him off because Lieberman will not 'let go' of his coercion of Reid. Reid is tying not to make it a one person decision by asking for a vote from other dem senators...but Joe has got to go even if the other dem senators are persuaded to allow him to continue and Reid must do it alone. Hope that was clearer, Hussein Tena X
btw...I love when wingers say "President Barack Obama" and I get to correct them and say "That's President Barack 'Hussein' Obama". It's so much fun. Everytime I see the name Hussein it reminds me I get to do this (just so they can see how ridiculous it was for them to suggest his name had anything to do with Sadam-ha)
November 8, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amazing how many people are taking pride in using the word President because it has meaning again!
November 8, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Answer to Palin..."Yeah, just like the before and after Couric interview".
"Here's a list of the magazines and papers I read> Ha, I don't know why I couldn't remember them...hahaha...wink"
"In what respect Charlie?" I guess now she's motivated to learn and memorize stuff and then pretend she knew it all along. But there should have been a natural curiosity beyond just what advances her immediate desires. She stayed focused on Alaska because that's where her bread was buttered. She had no interest in the rest of the world or America because it did not "concern" her. This is why she will never make a good leader no matter how they spin her beauty queen nature.
November 8, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Her bread and butter has gone tits up. Her first two years as governor was when oil was over $100 a barrel. Now it's in the low $60 range. Seems the state needs the price at $75 a barrel or they have to dig into their reserve fortunes. I suspect that means the average Alaska citizen will see a smaller return-on-investment check from the state this year. And some Alaskan legislators are wondering how she's gonna be able to manage a state whose budget requirements are larger than the income generated to fund it.
November 8, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh,yeah,gosh dern it.Palin says she was taken out of context when talking about the country of Africa.I`ll bet she`s so ignorant that she doesn`t even know its capital.
November 8, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Zimbabwe?
lol!
November 8, 2008 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe she's confusing Africa with Australia, which is both a country and a continent. Or maybe she's thinking of "America" -- you know, "America" the country and "America" the continent.
My god I'm going to miss her. Comedy gold.
November 8, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
America - So many to choose from!
There's North America, South America and even a Central America too! And there are even country's than make up America with individual capitols too!
To bad Dr. Seuss isn't with us anymore. Just think of the pre-school primers he could write using Palin as a Who!
November 8, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
She had to think about it when Katie Couric asked her about seeing Russia and she went off on Canada as "part of the state which I'm executive of"
I'm not sure she knows where Canada is. She thought Montreal was in France.
Yeah she did, too.
November 8, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's funny because she reminds me of a nursery teacher anyway. Dr. Zeuss could even be Palin's "shock and awe".
I've always said it would be harder for a woman to be president than a minority. Palin could make it even harder
November 8, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I suggest 2 IMMEDIATE campaigns to persuade Obama to: 1) mount some kind of serious effort to support Jim Martin in his runoff campaign against the odious Saxby Chambliss (yes I know that the transition is the most important thing in the country right now, but after all, he was the one who said that presidents need to be able to do more than one thing at a time) and 2) recruit Darcy Burner for the new admin. I don't have a specific post in mind, but I think that she has a lot to contribute.
November 8, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
IMO...I think it would be better if we leave the transition to the Executive on Obama's plate and pressure Reid and his caucus to engage in a full Senate court press for Jim Martin. Much better use of legislative resources.
November 8, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm in favor of leaving the president-elect alone right now.
We have more leverage with Congress I think, anyway.
Obama doesn't do pressure. Didn't y'all get that when he finally told you he wasn't going to change his vote on FISA?
November 8, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Martin is better off without Obama pitching him, I think folks are tired of McCain and Obama and given the GOP's 60-seat filibuster boogieman, Martin seen as close to Obama (and possibly owing him) would probably be used as a attack point against him.
November 8, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know, Jonze. I think Martin's only chance is getting the base out...and here in GA that means a large chunk of the AA electorate. I'm not saying that Obama should participate (for a whole host of reasons), I just think you're wrong about Obama hurting, not helping, Martin.
November 8, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I couldn't disagree more. I really expected a woman to be elected before an African American.
And I think we would have except that there has been a convergence of extraordinary situations and people - Obama is extraordinary and the times are as well.
And people understand that Palin is no Hillary Clinton.
November 8, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Electing a woman President just got harder. Latinos just found out they too can vie for the position as well. And from what I've heard, it would be too long from now when they out number Caucasians - us white folk.
November 8, 2008 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the the 45th President will be a white male.
November 8, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who knows, really? There were very few people in 2004 predicting our next president would be a 47 yr old African American.
November 8, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
"... And that’s cruel, it’s mean-spirited, it’s immature, it’s unprofessional and those guys are jerks... ."
now i've seen it all. sarah palin calling someone else "mean-spirited" and "immature." the same woman who delivered that kind and mature convention speech?
hey sarah, see if this rings any bells:
November 8, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yo Sarah !!!!
November 8, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
O my goodness, peeps:
http://www.wric.com/global/story.asp?s=9315820
November 8, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I suspect there's even more openings Obama is aware of that haven't hit the newsstands yet. He's gonna be a busy man for the next few months lining up his Cabinet, Ambassadors, appointees, senior military promotions and judgeships.
November 8, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can just hear the blue dogs now telling Obama that Virginians really intended to send a conservative message by electing a black Yankee so conservative judicial appointments are vital to the survival of the Democratic Party.
November 8, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's just wonderful news....I want my Constitution back.
November 8, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
We got it back, but handed it over to the bookbinder. He gonna mend the torn pages, rewrite those passages that were obscured and remove the unnecessary addendums to make it legible again for the public to use.
November 8, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yaaa hoooo! Great spot TenaX. Sorry I misspelled you name before. I was too busy sputtering about Palin to do better.
November 8, 2008 8:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
C'mon, Lieberman is a serial betrayer, so why not let him betray the loathsome Mitch McConnell for a while? Harry Reid should be polite when he just says no to Joe.
If Lieberman hopes to get re-elected in Connecticut, he'll have to vote with the Dems 95% of the time anyway, so there's not much advantage to the Dems kissing his rearend. When he's really needed, after all, he'll betray them anyway.
Check out this & other stories (mostly presidential) on RealityChex.com at http://www.realitychex.com
November 8, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lieberman will be dealt with just like Palin was. Let his peers cast stones for their reasons, not ours. To have the deepest impact, it needs to be a personal.
November 8, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh puhleeze....
Newsweek
November 8, 2008 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama and the Huxtable Effect - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/arts/television/08cosb.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
November 8, 2008 6:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope the Republican right does push Palin as the candidate for 2012. The evangelical right cannot yet accept that they are an extreme fringe in our country. A combination of Bush's presidency and Fox News has given them a perception of majority that doesn't really exist. It may take Palin to finally end once and for all the misconception that the evangelical right rules our country.
November 8, 2008 6:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
And then he'll go to Georgia to campaign for a man who implied a disabled veteran was a terrorist.
November 8, 2008 8:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
You might be pleased to know that here in California the passage of Prop 8 (which reverses recent legalization of gay marriage and changes the constitution to outlaw it) is the result of the Obama effect. The huge turnout of blacks, who are overwhelmingly against gay marriage, narrowly approved the propostition. 70% of black voters (which represents 10% of the total voters) voted to make gay marriage illegal.
The Obama effect is bring out conservative values voters, namely blacks, who cite scripture as opposed to right as their guide. It will not surprise me to see Obama select a Supreme Court justice who does not outrightly oppose Roe v Wade.
November 8, 2008 8:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
You might be pleased to know that here in California the passage of Prop 8 (which reverses recent legalization of gay marriage and changes the constitution to outlaw it) is the result of the Obama effect. The huge turnout of blacks, who are overwhelmingly against gay marriage, narrowly approved the propostition. 70% of black voters (which represents 10% of the total voters) voted to make gay marriage illegal.
The Obama effect is bring out conservative values voters, namely blacks, who cite scripture as opposed to right as their guide. It will not surprise me to see Obama select a Supreme Court justice who does not support Roe v Wade.
November 8, 2008 8:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re: R v W, how much would you like to bet on that?
November 8, 2008 9:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
He has explicitly said he will not use a litmus test. That is the first indication. His personal/political/religious belief that gays should not marry will play into his choice. That same temperment will also oppose Roe v Wade.
Stay tuned, it is likely to happen.
November 9, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bullshit. This theory has been debunked. This is what the nearly 50% white bigots want you to believe, the evangelicals, Mormons, Catholics etc.
November 8, 2008 9:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are numerous sites, including Dem faithful ones, that have come to the same conclusion. Gay marriage was outlawed because of the massive black turnout that went overwhelmingly against gays.
I'm living in city blacks jumping for joy and gays who are demonstrating everyday and are pissed at them.
Deal with it.
November 9, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
You might be pleased to know that the passage of Prop 8 was the result of jillions being poured into the states by bigots who have nothing better to do with their time, sort of like people who troll on blogs.
November 8, 2008 8:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you!!!
Also, regarding Judicial appoints, opening in U.S. 9th Circuit court.
November 8, 2008 9:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Money didn't pass it, votes did.
November 9, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
First they attacked Obama, and now they praise him. Bachmann, Palin, Lieberman, et. al. have decided to be on the correct side of history:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/politics/09memo.html?_r=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin
November 8, 2008 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
BTW, did you all notice the article about Fox being denied asking a question at Obama's first press conference, too funny.
November 8, 2008 9:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just read that. Quite a right decision. It was a press conference where only news organizations are to ask questions.
Translation: we will treat everyone as an adult and won't take stupid questions, bitches!
November 8, 2008 10:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of FOX, I just saw this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/books/23wolff.html?ref=business
First part of the article...
November 8, 2008 10:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Secret Service blames Palin for an increase in death threats against our future president:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/sarahpalin/3405336/Sarah-Palin-blamed-by-the-US-Secret-Service-for-death-threats-against-Barack-Obama.html
November 8, 2008 10:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
HEY! EVERYBODY! -
Get out that unused credit card (use it so that the bank doesn't close your account out) and go right now to Jim Martin's campaign website and make a contribution. Help defeat god damned Chambliss! -
http://www.martinforsenate.com
November 8, 2008 11:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
What I think would be a really neat commercial would be to start with a totally black screen. Then we hear a baby start to cry. Followed by another one. Then another one. Then another one. Eventually all you hear are crying babies. After a few seconds, the sound fades slightly, and we hear Sarah voice-over her "Jerks and idiots" comment.
Followed by "Sarah Palin. Tough. Strong. A fighter. Ready to lead."
Fade out on the babies. End of commercial.
If her feelings are hurt by a little anonymous criticism, think of how much fun we can have with a really negative ad.
November 10, 2008 4:09 AM | Reply | Permalink