• Hot Off The Presses - Mini-Posts - Politics, Schmolitics

    McCain: Political Dirty Trickster

    In These Times – March 6, 2000 – Free Ride Here is what happened: McCain boasted to my wife and me over lunch in Washington that he had planted complex questions with the Senate Interior Committee chairman to sabotage the testimony of Arizona Gov. Rose Mofford, a Democrat, about the Central Arizona Project, the multibillion-dollar Colorado River water delivery system for Arizona urban areas. When I protested to McCain that the project had enjoyed bipartisan support for nearly 50 years, from conservative Barry Goldwater to liberal Morris Udall, McCain retorted: “I’m duty bound to embarrass a Democrat whenever I can.”

  • Politics, Schmolitics

    Barack Obama Bumper Stickers: Illinois Sticker Is Lame

    Barack Obama Bumper Stickers Cool idea, but the Illinois sticker is a graphic with Obama and Biden, with a background shot of the funny red state Capitol rotunda. Where’s Lincoln? Where’s the Chicago skyline, the fertile downstate fields, or a clever recasting of the state flag? It has a rampant eagle, a Federal shield, and a really pretty golden sunburst. Can’t someone do a mix with the “O” logo, please? Because until then, I’m from Hawaii, my “maybe someday” spiritual home. The sticker says “Obama Ohana.” As everybody knows, “ohana” means “family.” Via BoingBoing

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Politics, Schmolitics

    Flowers for a dead President (not the one you expect)

    I also wonder, what would Gerald Ford have thought if he could somehow see McCain coming to lay flowers at his grave with First Dude? …And what is Todd Palin doing there in the first place — especially when (forsaking the excellent adventure) he could be home with the baby and kids? Ah. This is one of those “reach out to the moderates” action straight out of the playbook. Ford would be appalled, I think, by Palin’s politics, as he was appalled by the Religious Right’s co-opting of the party. Reported this one to The General.

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Politics, Schmolitics

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Governor Palin’s Reading List

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Governor Palin’s Reading List Fascist writer Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist who Sarah Palin approvingly quoted in her acceptance speech for the moral superiority of small town values, expressed his fervent hope about my father, Robert F. Kennedy, as he contemplated his own run for the presidency in 1965, that “some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies.” It might be worth asking Governor Palin for a tally of the other favorites from her reading list. And that shocking revelation is just one more…

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    Obama Strikes Back: Let’s Hope It’s Revenge Of The Dem-Jedi Next

    TPM Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Obama Campaign: McCain “Would Rather Lose His Integrity Than Lose An Election” TPM notes that Obama’s campaign hit McCain where he lives.. on the “honor and integrity” meme that’s part of his maverick-hero image. This is after his appearance on The View, where Joy Behar told McCain that a lot of his oft-repeated campaign statements are lies. Right to his face. I love Joy. Today on “The View,” John McCain defended his campaign’s latest ad campaign, which has been debunked repeatedly as both false and sleazy. In running the sleaziest campaign since…

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    One Utah: McCain Caught Lying Again, Today

    One Utah » Blog Archive » McCain Caught Lying Again, Today. Yep, it turns out there are no official estimates of the size of the crowds he’s attracting to his rallies. His campaign staff cites fire marshals and Secret Service personnel, but actual fire marshals and Secret Service spokespersons contacted by reporters deny supplying the McCain people with crowd size estimates. Meanwhile, his staff now insist it’s never been about the size of the crowds, it’s what McCain does with them that counts. Audience envy. It’s not pretty.

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    Lipstick on a Pig, Take 2

    First, NPR did an audio story direct from a pig farm in Virginia. Yes, they put Ruby Red lipstick on a black-and-white pig. It was a piece that left much to the imagination, and perhaps it’s better that way. Because apparently now it’s a trend: news organizations are falling all over themselves putting lipstick on pigs. Here’s the link to the Chicago Tribune video (yeah, they do video on their website. And they prove, unequivocally, that there’s really no amount of artful makeup techniques or products that can improve the appearance of a porker. With the possible exception of a…