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

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)

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"

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.

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

Easy win(k) for Tina... 



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

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.

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".