20081030

Obama's 30 mn Prime time ad

From the Oval Office (well... not quite, but almost there) :




Also : the full version, including the final live part in Florida...

... and Barack at Jon's Tonight Show the same night

20081027

October Surprise : W. delivers FL to McCain



Dubya eventually picked Syria to deliver the October Surprise McCain needed (red flag provoquing an artificial tension). Smart move : putting economy behind security was one thing, but boosting AIPAC vs JStreet may help the GOP keep FL red.


W. : "Here is the October Surprise you needed, John. My unprovoqued aggression of Syria will put economy behind security, and Florida is yours."
Mc : " Thanks, my friend. Do I need to put the bombs on my campaign budget ?"
PS (addendum 20081027) - the US attack Syria because the US didn't defend Syria enough : "Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem of Syria accused the United States earlier this year of not giving his country the equipment needed to prevent foreign fighters from crossing into Iraq. He said Washington feared Syria could use such equipment against Israel."(IHT 20081026 "US choppers attack Syrian village near Iraq border")
Bonus : TNL endorsement of McCain-Palin by Ferrell / Bush :

20081025

McCain has been "tested" as a soldier, not as the decision maker

McCain used the Cuba nuclear crisis to make his point "I've been tested, not that one"*.

The fact that he pictured himself on the USS Enterprise in a plane loaded with nuclear weapons, which he was not supposed to have ever piloted, should be enough to backfire on him. But more fundamentally, in this situation, McCain was tested as a soldier, not the decision maker. And after all, he wasn't tested all the way : he didn't even take off.

JFK was the one tested as a President, not him.

Now following the first wave of the financial krach, both McCain and Obama received the same 3 AM call. And guess who reacted as a leader and who reacted as a follower...

The point is McCain is not a good decision maker. He lacks judgement. But he does take decisions... only of the suicidal kind : ending up in the hands of the enemy and thus endangering the nation, picking the most dangerous person for the most vital job...

McCain is not a Maverick : he is a daredevil and a compulsive gambler**.

My friends, John McCain has been tested, and proven totally unfit for the job of President of the United States of America.


* "I was on board the USS Enterprise. I sat in the cockpit, on the flight deck of the USS Enterprise, off of Cuba. I had a target. My friends, you know how close we came to a nuclear war. America will not have a president who needs to be tested. I've been tested, my friends."
** see "A Maverick or a Gambler ?"

20081024

Paulson, Sarkozy to Socialist Heaven : "show me the money !"

Europe hastily awarded some jailed Chinese dissident with some prestigious human rights prize before embarking on a plane for Beijing.

There, Jose Manuel Barroso, Nicolas Sarkozy et al went down on their knees and begged the Great Socialist Empire to let some of its wealthy reserves trickle down over the bankrupt Capitalist rest of the World.

From DC, Hank Paulson also asked the IIIrd Millenium's Hyperpower to consider some kind of a Marshall plan ("could you please bail out the US of A ? you know, we don't hate socialists that badly, after all - according to John McCain we're even about to elect one as our President").

In other words, capitalism defies socialist China : "Show me the money".

Wen Jiabao is all ears. And smiles*. "Yes, we can".

Yes, Wen can provide some kind of relief to his new admirers, but he has some fish to fry at home as well. Will he chose to secure China's business model and one fifth of the World's population, to help the richest fifth, or to give a hand to the forgotten rest ? Probably a little bit of each : China will durably strengthen its positions in Asia, Africa, Europe and America, but the trickiest part will be China itself (see "Pervasive China's CIA (Central Investment Agency)").

New series of models will emerge. Not this week-end. Nor November the 15th, when the World Egghead Forum takes place. Nor even during the couple of years to come. But timely (at a geologic time scale at least).

They will differ from XXth century socialism or capitalism (see "This is not a financial crisis"), and China is no exception.

* Actually, I'm wondering how badly Wen's jaws hurt - he was already jubilating during his interview with Zakaria a couple of weeks ago (GPS @ CNN / Newsweek). But not as much as I did, listening to Alan Greenspan swallow just a tiny little bit of his titanic pride.

20081022

October 29 Surprise ?

I just received Joe Biden's robomail for Barack's 10/29 special :


"Next Wednesday, October 29th, is a perfect night for supporters like you to
host a party in your home. Barack will appear on TV at 8:00 p.m. Eastern for 30
minutes. He'll share a positive message with Americans and discuss his plans for
healthcare reform, economic recovery, and a responsible end to the war in Iraq.
"
And I thought to myself hold on a minute. I'm John McCain, I don't have a dime to spare and my opponent is trusting prime time TV. My only way out is to have something else making the headlines that day. My new pal Dubya happens to be at a position where strings can be pulled...

If something really huge must hit the fan before November 4 (e.g.
China invades North Korea), I'm ready to bet a buck on that very date.

---
addendum 20081027 (see cartoon)

Dubya eventually picked Syria to deliver the October Surprise McCain needed (red flag provoquing an artificial tension). Smart move : putting economy behind security is one thing, but boosting AIPAC vs JStreet may keep FL red.

20081021

Drop ACORN, pick-up YPM

YPM (Young Political Majors) are under several investigations for voter frauds across different states (ie bait-and-switch registration schemes). YPM owner Mark Jacoby has just been arrested in Ontario*.


Now here is a genuine threat to democracy, Mac. The problem is, YPM was hired by the GOP to do this, so you'd better keep quiet a low profile on ACORN... which has nothing to do with the Obama-Biden campaign, nor even the Dems.

I guess this is it, John McCain. All your accusations have failed lamentably :

How can you say Obama is a threat to democracy when HE is its last chance and YOU are ready to destroy it ?
How can you say Obama is a socialist when HE is working on the salvation of the whole economy, and YOU are voting for the same rescue package ?
How can you say Obama is palling around with a former terrorist when HE is simply accepting a membership to the same charity run by Republicans (the said terrorist turned into a Chicago Citizen of the Year), and YOU are a member of the USWCF board during the very peak of this organization's most infamous exactions ?
How can you say Obama doesn't share American values when HE is fighting for the restoration of America's greatness and advocating a sound, respectful and profound approach of religion, and YOU are fueling racial and religious hatred, courting Amerika's worst enemies, and reciting empty mantras in which you obviously don't even believe ?


Your smear ads backfired to the point Republican candidates are begging you to stop them. Colin Powell broke the dam, and will unleash a flock of true Republicans who cannot subscribe to your not-so-hidden agenda***.


You lost, because you chose the wrong side of your party, the wrong side of your country, the wrong side of your own self.

You lost the War in MacCainistan.



* see "Voters contend they were duped into registering as Republicans" (LA Times 20081017)
** see "Ontario police arrest man in voter fraud case" (LA Times 20081020)
*** at last ! see "GOP : Time to Split"




PS : don't forget to report any voter fraud attempt (more more about this CMD initiative on "The Election Protection Wiki")

Addendum 20081022 : speaking of the wrong side of America, here is Jon Stewart wondering where the pf..k is real America :





20081019

Sarah Palin @ SNL

Tina's fancy patriot walking :



Amy's Palin rap :



Too bad the show was ruined by a fake moose and a fake candidate.

20081016

Debate # 3 : That One tamed The Whipper


And the winner is... Joe The Plumber. Or maybe Bob Schiffer.

John McCain survived another day, leading the first half of the debate, putting Barack Obama on the defensive, wording his distance with Bush ("Senator Obama, I'm not President Bush"), and winning the closing address.

In his best debate so far (and the last one : should he win, Palin will probably do the next one), McCain even survived the Veep test, Obama failing to point out the fact that Joe Biden was ready to lead the country from day one.

But the Sitting Bull looked once again very grumpy when his opponent was talking, and Obama, who gracefully dodged the abortion ("Nobody's pro-abortion") and Bill Ayers bullets, wrapped the second half thanks to health and education. And he was a little bit more subtle when it came to courting Ohio / Michigan voters ("Joe The Plumber" crushed by a Detroit motorcade).

Obama was tired and not in his best day. But he didn't make any mistake and didn't hurt his batting average that badly.


He was just a nice smart man debating with a nervous person who came to make a show or better : to fight on a ring. McCain came out smiling, but Americans are not in a mood to count this kind of points.


Wrestling with Joe The Plumber, The Maverick won the WWF bout, but facing America, Barack Obama won the Presidential Debate.

20081013

Sarah Palin proud of abusing her power



"Doesn't it mean that I'm ready for Dick Cheney's job ?"

20081011

SNL Prez debate #2 - Mac lost his bearings



Featuring Barack Obama / Fred Armisen, John McCain / Darrell Hammond, Tom Brokaw / Chris Parnell and William Murray / Bill Murray

+ Actors Studio bonus : I like to say "body language doesn't lie", but Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks went much further on the Huffington Post ("Body Politics: Sarah Palin's Body Language And Why It Should Worry You"). Here are the first 3 flags they raised about Sarah Palin (2 more to come) : 
- Attitude-Flag #1: The Aggressive Confidence Of The Con-Person
- Voice-Flag #1: The Exaggerated Folksiness Of The Huckster
- Voice-Flag #2: The Metallic Shriek Of The Fear-Monger

20081010

John, Ben, Barack Hussein, James, Thomas, and other beautiful American names

What do McCain and Obama have in common ? Any of the two would be the 15th US President with a Semitic name*.

Yep. Barack Hussein is as American as John, Joe or Sarah.

And Barack Hussein Obama is no more un-American than such radical terrorists as Benjamin Franklin or Abraham Lincoln. Maybe President McCain would arrest Bin Yamin Franklin for inventing a weapon of mass destruction collecting energy from lightning bolts, or Abraham for sporting such a suspicious beard...

Obama never made a mystery of the nature of his relationship with Bill Ayers, and repeatedly denounced his past actions. We have yet to hear from John McCain about his relationships with John Singlaub and his presence at the board of the sulfurous U.S. Council for World Freedom (not exactly the board of a charity at that time, ask any Nicaraguan).

"Who is Barack Hussein Obama ?" We know the answer, the man is quite open about his past, present and future, about what he knows and doesn't know, about what he did wrong and right, about where he stands and whom he stands for.

"Who is John McCain ?" I'm not sure John himself wants to face the answer.

* praise Juan Cole :
"Barack Hussein Obama, Omar Bradley, Benjamin Franklin and other Semitically Named American Heroes"


---
Addendum 20081019
Praise also Colin Powell for not only endorsing Barack, but also setting the record straight about US Muslims (NBC's "Meet the Press" 20081019) :

see also Barack's reaction - ABC News "
Obama 'Beyond Humbled' as GOP's Powell Says He'd Be 'an Exceptional President'" 20081019)

20081009

The Election Protection Wiki

I forgot to mention this great initiative from (who else ?) the Center for Media and Democracy :

From John Stauber :

The Election Protection Wiki: A Dynamic Website Helps Safeguard America’s Right to Vote
The non-profit, non-partisan 
Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has launched a unique website to help safeguard the fairness and integrity of US elections, using the power of citizen journalism. The Election Protection Wiki is now online at EPWiki.org . It enables citizens, journalists and government officials to actively monitor the electoral process in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. CMD and its community of volunteer editors will continue to improve, expand and update the EP Wiki beyond the upcoming November 4th election.

The EP Wiki is part of CMD’s award-winning SourceWatch website and operates on wiki software which allows anyone who registers on the website to participate in creating and updating articles. SourceWatch contains in-depth articles on every member of (and most candidates for) the US Congress at Congresspedia.org . CMD employs both professional and volunteer editors who work together online to ensure articles are fair, accurate and fully documented.

epwiki.org

Next stop - destroy Unidentified Financial Objects

This financial meltdown doesn't come as a surprise. Everybody knew something had to be done before it was too late. The surprise was to see how deep in the hole the people in charge would remain in denial and inaction*.

Sure, the US Presidential campaign didn't help. Sure, no one in charge wanted to be blamed for crying "fire" first, and igniting the panic movement. But this farcically suicidal ballet of leaders pretending to control the situation was a disgrace for democracy worldwide.

The first quick fixes are being applied to prevent the bleeding from overflowing too much, but the said bleeding has yet to stop.

The first "global" plays of the day are being broadcast - mere tactical moves with equally insignificant impact.

Megamergers in the financial sector are under way... with not so glamour bargain shopping tags all over.

Some national institutions are crying uncle, and I don't think minor league stock exchanges and currencies will make sense in the medium term.

Some crisis are like onions. They make you cry and they stink, but furthermore they have layers. This is one of those moments when you should try peeling off a few of them.

I don't mean "deregulate", to the contrary, but "keep it smart and simple", make oversight easier by removing black boxes, blowing up smokescreens, and destroying Unidentified Financial Objects.


* see "
This is not a financial crisis"

20081008

Debate # 2 : XXIst Century wins


In a dull re-run of the previous debate*, McCain lost one of his last chances of changing the dynamics of his erratic campaign.

Even on his own turf (Town Hall format), and even with the help of Tom Brokaw (the ultimate loser tonight : he didn't even prevent the Senator of Arizona from reaching across the aisle and shaking hands with a member of the audience), McCain lost.

Condemned to control himself in front of the camera (which did catch some angry moments in the background, though**), stuck to XXth century role models (clumsily courting Reagan fans), and XXth century solutions that are not solutions (like Tina Fey's Palin plegdes to "fix it" in every sentence, he keeps saying "I know how to" without actually telling how), McCain lost.

Claiming a "vision of the future" but exposing a vision of the past while the next President set the pace for the next century, McCain lost.

Referring to other people's ideas while the next President articulated views that resonated in everybody's minds, McCain lost.

Moreover, Barack Obama won. Against the XXth century's last presidential candidate, he smacked grand slam homeruns on economy and health care, but he also claimed Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan (leaving only "tiny" Georgia to Sakash's pal)***. 

Tonight, many Americans must feel even more comfortable with such a Commander in Chief.

McCain ? His "vision of the future" doesn't point to the White House. If he truly wants to save the country, he must first win the McCainistan war and second lose the November elections.


* see "
Debate # 1 : McCain didn't lose, and President Obama spared him
** watch him grab his chair in the background while Obama's speaking. The chair didn't break and that's the only difference with Amy Poehler / Hillary during Fey's first SNL stunt.
*** in the process, great admissions on "I don't understand" (... why invade Iraq instead of fighting terrorists where they actually were) or "Government intrusion" (... to crack down big corporation abuses) - funny : we didn't even hear once the word "maverick" tonight...

Is Iceland really melting ?

Strange. 

The first ally Iceland turns to turns to be Russia.

Not Europe, not the IMF. Russia. Without any warming.

Medvedev-Putin happily oblige.

Maybe Iceland's financial system is melting. But Russia seems to be building a stronger front around the North Pole. 

Keep your eye on the ball, Europe. Not Georgia, not Ukraine. The ball at the top of the Kremlin.

20081005

SNL Palin-Biden debate : easy win(k) for Tina

Easy win(k) for Tina... 



... but Darrell Hammond deserves a re-run :

20081004

Help me help you help me help us all

I need to go back to my most personal work but I can't.

Nothing to do with writer's block : I've been writing all day for months, thank you.

No. I'll take that last one back. Damn you.

Damn you, American citizens, for being on the verge of electing a couple of "Mavericks" who pledged allegiance to the enemies of democracy.

Damn you, American citizens, for being on the verge of preventing this world from being led by the best man at the best place at the best moment.

Damn you, American citizens, for voting for the worst person at the worst place at the worst moment four years ago.

Damn you, American citizens, for once more sucking all my energy as I try to wake you up on time, while I should be writing my meaningless book.

One month to go today.

One month untill the end this nightmare of mine. 

Or the beginning of this nightmare of ours.

20081003

McCain's Golden Jet Wings

Those "Golden Parachutes" are things from the past.
I pledge to replace them with Fusionman's "Golden Jet Wings".

The New Energy Expert Doesn't Blink - She Winks


Tonight, we met the latest version of Sarah Palin. A mix between the RNC pitbull and the brawling Ross Perot.
We've been winked at, mavericked, joesixpacked, hockeymommed, heckovulotted, mainstreeterlikemeed, youbetchized, wakdawaktakdataked by the new self proclaimed national expert in energy issues.

Tonight, Joe Biden was controling himself (he only managed to lose the gay-lesbian voters, who anyway won't rush to Sarah Read My Lipstick Palin*). Like Obama the other day**, he missed opportunities on economics (he could for instance denounce the politics of "fear" of her opponent).

But he didn't blink when it came to put a label on the Bush legacy ("an abject failure") or Dick Cheney ("the most dangerous Vice-President in History"). And he shed a tear that looked more genuine than Palin's fake and nervous compassion. Besides, his support of Israel sounded more sincere than her AIPAC leaflet... The true "natural" was the one who didn't have to train clumsily to look and sound like one.

As expected, Palin fared better than many thought, but only in appearance. I'm not sure everybody will be fooled, but at least some hardliners must feel some relief.
Biden wasn't fooled, but he too must be feeling some relief.

You don't debate with someone who doesn't believe in debate. You don't debate with someone who thinks he/she is always right and never make mistakes. You don't debate with someone who thinks there is no such thing as evolution.
You just speak and listen to this person speak. And hope he or she will never be in a position to nominate Supreme Justices.


* Gobernator III doesn't read newspapers (see Couric interview) but I know she subscribes to such publications as AmericanRifleman, The Neo-Creationist, Theocon Weekly, or the Bushnomist (the First Dude is rumored to favor an Alaskan skin magazine (Of Moose and Men).
** see "Debate # 1 : McCain didn't lose, and President Obama spared him".
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