Is This The End Of "Hussein"?

Geez, if we can't call the Dem front runner "Barack Hussein Obama", I guess my own contribution - "Barack Hussein Il Jong Obama" - is really dead in the water.

Josh Marshall optimistically (but maybe not unrealistically) tries to raise the bar for McCain and create a new media standard - McCain should be held accountable for every bit of sewage that floats by in the right wing gutter this election season.

Interesting.  Ludicrous, of course, but interesting.  And does that make Senator Obama responsible for every bit of left-wing kookiness that floats by?  Fine, then let's ask the Senator to denounce Josh Marshall's shameless linking of John McCain with noted Nazi inspiration Richard Wagner.  From Marshall:

Hopefully, everyone can now see the McCain strategy for running against Barack Obama. Yes, we have some general points on taxes, culture wars and McCain as war hero who can protect us in ways that flash-in-the-pan pretty boy Barack Obama can't.

But that's not the core. The core is to drill a handful of key adjectives into the public mind about Barack Obama: Muslim, anti-American, BLACK, terrorist, Arab. Maybe a little hustler and shifty thrown in [Shifty?  Barack? Even shiftier...], but we'll have to see. The details and specific arguments are sort of beside the point. They're like the libretto in a Wagner opera, nice for some narrative structure. But it's the score that's the real essence of it, the point of the whole exercise.

McCain's campaign is a Wagner opera?  I deplore the suggestion that noted conservative John McCain's campaign takes any inspiration at all from the man who wrote the soundtrack for the Third Reich.  But I can not say I am surprised since there are folks on the left who still fall down laughing when they hear "Bushitler".

Let's also splash a bit of reality on Dr. Marshall for this:

Don't insult your intelligence or mine by pretending that John McCain's plan for this race doesn't rely on hundreds of Cunninghams -- large and small -- across the country, and the RNC and all the GOP third party groups, to be peddling this stuff nonstop for the next eight months because it's the only way John McCain have a real shot at contesting this race.

McCain can only win by slinging Obama's middle name?  Well, then, let me insult various intelligences by citing the latest Rasmussen poll:

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

With the general election campaign season coming soon, voters currently trust John McCain more than Barack Obama on issues of National Security, the War in Iraq, the Economy, and Taxes. Obama is trusted more when it comes to Reducing Government Corruption. The Republican hopeful has a slight lead over the Democratic frontrunner in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Don't like Rasmussen?  How about this recent Times poll?

When all voters are asked to look ahead to the general election, Mr. McCain, the likely Republican nominee, is seen as better prepared for the presidency, better able to handle an international crisis and more equipped to serve as commander in chief than either of the Democratic candidates.

That gives McCain something to build on, one might think.  Shameless left-wing smears notwithstanding.

ERRATA:  Marshall has an UPDATE in which he tries to pretend that he is unfamiliar with Wagner and is writing strictly about the music.  Oy, vey!  Dr. M sure got ignorant in a hurry, if I know more about Wagner than he does.

CLOSING THOUGHT:  Since Dr. M knows nothing about Wagner's history, he may not know the famous Samuel Clemens quip - "Wagner's music is not as bad as it sounds".

REALLY CLOSING THOUGHT:  Tough day to Google on "Clemens".  Do include "Samuel", or go right to "Mark Twain", whose essay about Wagner not titled "Fear and Loathing in Bayreuth" is here.

I DEPLORE THIS RACIALLY CHARGED LANGUAGE:  Dr. M used "shifty" as a likely attack word; isn't that troublingly close to "shiftless", which someone somewhere surely associates with a common charge against African-Americans?  Or am I showing my age?  [Hmm, I thought I was kidding, but apparently some lefty somewhere can be relied upon to see anything as racist.]

Comments

[Don]

Polls? Ask Rudy how much stock to place in them.

[clarice]

Dear Josh,
Good luck with that one. (Did Sid slip it to you or did you come up with it yourself? PhD. from Brown, heh? )
Best.
J. Danforth Quayle

[Elliott]

There must be a George Felix Allen angle in all of this.

[MayBee]

I think it's more of a Piyush "Bobby" Jindal thing.

[anduril]

The core is to drill a handful of key adjectives into the public mind about Barack Obama: Muslim, anti-American, BLACK, terrorist, Arab. Maybe a little hustler and shifty thrown in, but we'll have to see.

Hmmmm. Let's see. Between his visage, his name and his auto-bio's preoccupation with race and identity, Barack Milhouse Obama (Mark Levin swears that's what he wants to be called now) can't do much on the Muslim, BLACK and Arab angles. As to the anti-American and terrorist charges, he kinda hurts himself by consorting with former terrorist bombers and advocating what sounds suspiciously like unilateral disarmament. The Rezko thing does add a little substance to the shifty hustler charge. Could be some problems down the road.

[clarice]

The reason I suggest he got this theory from his buddy Sid BLumenthal is that it is reflective of the paranoic projection Sid wallows in. It is the Dems who would do this to a "T" and always do--maybe because they have such stupid backers that symbolic rather than linear thinking is what works with them. Perhaps it's just because people like Sid are diabolic monsters for whom truth is merely an outre concept.

[Rick Ballard]

I find it extraordinarily difficult to be dismissive of a claim of pig ignorance by what's his name about any subject. What makes Wagner such an exception?

[Jane]

A bit off topic, but did you guys see this?

“Within the last month, a top staff member for Obama’s campaign telephoned Michael Wilson, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, and warned him that Obama would speak out against NAFTA, according to Canadian sources,” CTV News reported. “The staff member reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value.”

(link under my name)

[Elliott]

Good point, MayBee.

[clarice]

Thanks for that Jane. I'll blog it.

[anduril]

Run some of Marshall's Obama stuff (Muslim, anti-American, BLACK, terrorist, Arab. Maybe a little hustler and shifty...) through Rasmussen and the NYT, and they seem to "work together" (syn ergeô --> synergy) rather nicely with the public's view of McCain: "better prepared for the presidency, better able to handle an international crisis and more equipped to serve as commander in chief." I doubt Marshall would have come up with that stuff if he weren't just a little bit afraid that some of it could stick.

[Enlightened]

OT - Confederate Yankee has a interesting post up about the military wanting to outfit the Iraq army with M16's -

CY is questioning who the beneficiary of such a move might be? Colt - by way of Mad Jack Murtha????? Huh. One side of the mouth says we need to get out, other side says not before I profit a little bit......

[anduril]

“The staff member reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value.” Shifty hustler?

BTW, I'd be happy to see Piyush "Bobby" Jindal on the ticket.

[Patrick Tyson]

The Canadians deny.

[Enlightened]

"I doubt Marshall would have come up with that stuff if he weren't just a little bit afraid that some of it could stick."

Which is why I think he wrote it - hoping the racists and bigots we all are would act accordingly. And so he's labeled us, but if we conform to the label - we suck. If we don't conform to the label - we suck.

So if I suck no matter what I do, I think the sucking should be suckworthy. All of which still won't make me vote for BO, but it might be more fun.

[Ranger]

"But for me nothing -- nothing in opera at least -- compares to Wagner."

Josh Marshall

Liberal Fascism indeed.

[anduril]

I must be soft in the head--how could I forget the wife under "anti-American." It surely can't help to have her reinforcing those negatives that Marshall is so afraid of.

[Bruce]

No mooslim, repeat, no mooslim should be elected to any office. Mooslims in fact, should have their immigration numbers restricted severely, they are enemy aliens.

What do I mean by that? Mosslims come from a very different culture. Islam is a "unified field theory" - a complete spiritual/cultural/political ideology. And the political aspects are very significant. It is anti-Western, anti-American.

'Nuff said.

[Neo]

You mean Wagner is out ?

Do I have to get rid of my DVD of "Apocalypse Now" as well ?

"Smells like Victory"

[ben]

The armoring, shielding and coating of Obamamessiah has begun. The liberal wagons are circling. Fatwas will be issued against any and all non-believers.

[Enlightened]

Hmmm, maybe the View can get Michelle Obama on the record as to the symbolism of Hussein As A Middle Name.

[vnjagvet]

Another bumper sticker:

Obama: Because Only Bigots Criticize

[ben]

I hear they are already monitoring all non-believer sites and taking names.

[Neo]

"Yes We Can" -- Dave Cash, the second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1974

What is with this plagiarism thing ?

[Appalled Moderate]

Voter --
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;--
Thou art thyself, though not a real Hussein.
What's Hussein? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Obama would, were he not too Hussein call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title:--Obama, doff Hussein;
And for Hussein, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

Obama.
I take thee at thy word:
Give me your vote, and I'll be new baptiz'd;
Henceforth I never will be not Hussein

Voter.
What man art thou that, thus bescreen'd in night,
So stumblest on my counsel?

Obama.
With Hussein
I know not how to tell thee who I am:
Hussein, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
Because it is an enemy to thee.
Had I my ID, I would tear the word.

Voter.
My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words
Of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound;
Art thou Obama and yet not a Hussein?

Obama.
Never Hussein, if my pollster dislike.

[GMax]

Polls? Ask Rudy how much stock to place in them.

Posted by: Don

Someone files this safely away until we need it. I can assure you our little troll will be back at some point, poll in hand and dancing like an excited little school girl.

[MayBee]

GMax, undoubtedly. But he won't be calling himself "Don" on those posts.

[PeterUK]

Wagner died in 1883 six years before Hitler was born in 1889.Josh Marshall has made a cat's ares of himself.

[PeterUK]

Moreover Richard never received a penny in royalties from the Third Reich.

[bgates]

OK, no more playing with Mr Dunham's name. But - following Ace - can we still at least enjoy such constructions as "Mr Joshua Micah Cougar Boutros-Boutros Marshall"?

I'm not sure what's funnier - that he thinks taxes and national security are fringe issues in the minds of the electorate, or that he thinks 'black' should be all-caps but 'anti-American' should not.

[bgates]

So if I suck no matter what I do, I think the sucking should be suckworthy.
I'm pretty sure that's plagiarized from 'Talking Points Memo'.

[anduril]

Islam is a "unified field theory" - a complete spiritual/cultural/political ideology.

An underappreciated fact.

Steve Chapman has an article on NAFTA: Dem Myths Collide with NAFTA Reality. An excerpt:

Are you now or have you ever been a supporter of NAFTA? Both candidates denied any complicity, past or present, and both vowed to scrap the treaty if the Mexican government doesn't agree to changes.

Obama makes a special theme of blaming this and other trade agreements for setting off a race to the bottom that destroys American jobs. "In Youngstown, Ohio," he said in a Texas debate, "I've talked to workers who have seen their plants shipped overseas as a consequence of bad trade deals like NAFTA, literally seeing equipment unbolted from the floors of factories and shipped to China." Why NAFTA would induce a company to move production to China is a puzzle, but you get the idea.

His campaign claims a million jobs have vanished because of the deal. That sounds devastating, but over the last 14 years, the American economy has added a net total of 25 million jobs -- some of them, incidentally, attributable to expanded trade with Mexico. When NAFTA took effect in 1994, the unemployment rate was 6.7 percent. Today it's 4.9 percent.

But maybe all the jobs we lost were good ones and all the new ones are minimum-wage positions sweeping out abandoned factories? Actually, no. According to data compiled by Harvard economist Robert Z. Lawrence, the average blue-collar worker's wages and benefits, adjusted for inflation, have risen by 11 percent under NAFTA. Instead of driving pay scales down, it appears to have pulled them up.

Manufacturing employment has declined, but not because we're producing less: Manufacturing output has not only expanded, but has expanded far faster than it did in the decade before NAFTA. The problem is that as productivity rises, we can make more stuff with fewer people. That's not a bad thing. In fact, it's essentially the definition of economic progress.

We're not the only country facing that phenomenon. China makes everything these days, right? But between 1995 and 2002, it lost 15 million manufacturing jobs.

Even if the candidates don't want to acknowledge the gains of the last 14 years, it's hard to see how they can blame NAFTA for economic troubles in Ohio or elsewhere. The whole idea was to eliminate import duties in both the United States and Mexico (as well as Canada). What everyone forgets is that we got the best of that bargain, since our tariffs were very low to begin with.

"Mexico had very good access to the U.S. market" already, says Charlene Barshefsky, who was U.S. Trade Representative in the Clinton administration. "What NAFTA did was level the playing field."

[Enlightened]

"I'm pretty sure that's plagiarized from 'Talking Points Memo'."

I'm a Racist, Bigotted Plagiarizer and Ace would probably say - a dirty, dirty whore. It's got a ring to it.

[ben]

I think Josh Marshall will soon propose Obama be appointed now as President and forego the election on the grounds the Messiah could be scratched or dented if subjected to such unnecessary distractions.

[PeterUK]

The fundamental law of Messiah's decrees the the chosen one never actually makes in a corporeal state.

[megapotumus]

The victocrat strategy is hilarious now that it is being implemented in Blue on Blue fighting and it is somewhat bracing to think that McCain is to become the target of his former buddies in the MSM to whom he was always their favorite Republican, but this crap that Obama of Hillary by virtue of their downtrodden status are not required to put in the bare minimum of political toil. Only lately has Barry so much as declared his policy on anything, much less been specific about policies. And when he does they are vapid, circular, ignorant and as utterly predictable as any MoveOn ad. These people don't remember McGovern. Good.

[GMax]

The latest on good ole whats his name, who shall not be mentioned for fear of offense. Look who else is taking offense - for running an AP photo no less! And I am sure the reporter just got all of those arab sounding names wrong, probably another member of the VRWC trying to derail the Hope candidate!

Wajir residents plan to demonstrate after Friday prayers to show their support for the Illinois senator.

Mohamed Ibrahim, who attended one of two crisis meetings held in Wajir on Thursday by clan members who hosted Obama on his trip, said Washington must immediately make amends to them and especially to the elder pictured with him.

"The U.S. government must apologise to us as a clan and the old man," Ibrahim told Reuters by telephone. "We have been offended and we cannot afford to just watch and stay silent."

He said it was essential Clinton "clear her name" too.

The old man in question was retired chief Sheikh Mohamed Hassan, a senior elder who deserved great respect, local residents said.

"He was the right person to perform any such activity like dressing a visitor like Obama with traditional Somali clothes," said another Wajir community leader, Mukhtar Sheikh Nur.

"We give special treatment and respect to any visitor."

If there was no apology, the elders said, they would demand the expulsion of U.S. troops based near Garissa town.

[GMax]

Maybe Michelle got her bad attitude from hanging around these guys for a bit on the visit?

[clarice]

In others news Survey US has a poll showing McCain beating O by 10 pts in Fla and Rush is running the cries of a Dem organizer to the effect that Jews will not vote for him/ (I told you so.)

[clarice]

Actually--it was a Mason-Dixon poll:
[quote]McCain leads both Obama and Clinton in potential general-election match ups with either candidate in the all-important swing state of Florida, according to a Mason-Dixon poll out today.

McCain leads Obama 47%-37% and Clinton 49%-40%. The Arizona senator leads the Democrats across the board. About 80% of Republicans are behind McCain. Only 66% of Democrats are behind Obama and 72% are backing Clinton in one-one-one match-ups with McCain. Currently, 17% of Democrats indicate that in a match up with Obama, they'd support McCain; 16% say so in a match up with Clinton. Seventeen percent of Dems also say they are undecided in a match up with Obama; 13% say so with regard to McCain-Clinton. Those numbers though could be a reflection of McCain being the presumptive nominee and Obama and Clinton still engaged in a fight for the nomination.[/quote]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/28/713124.aspx

Rush transcript:

RUSH: Let me read a passage from this Adam Smith piece in the St. Petersburg Times about the Democrat Party fretting over a fractious tone. "'In the 66-some-odd years I've been doing this, this is the saddest election I've ever worked in,' said Ginger Grossman, a prominent Democratic organizer in Miami-Dade County, who says she hears countless Jewish liberals tell her they won't vote for Obama if he wins the nomination. 'It's outrageous, and it's breaking my heart. I know it's because he's black, or I feel it is,' said Grossman, a Clinton supporter who said she would also vote enthusiastically for Obama. 'The worst of it is when they start calling him a Muslim and say, "Why aren't they using his name, Hussein?" I pray God it can be overcome. It's devastating, but I'm hoping I can change it.'"

Well, I hadn't heard this one before. I hadn't heard that liberal Democrat Jews are opposed to Obama. Had you heard that? I hadn't heard that. Well, this is good. This is all good, folks, it's right into our plan. And, look, if we're not going to be serious about beating these people and they are serious about harming themselves, then we have to help them. Because my objective is winning, is defeating these people, is defeating the liberal Democrat Party, and since so few Republicans seem interested in that, we do have opportunities nevertheless for it to happen because the Democrats are in the process of tearing themselves apart here. It's probably far more than we even know. This is St. Petersburg Times, it's Drive-By Media, but it ain't big. Who knows what else is going on out there about all this, that we're not hearing. I mean, the moment there's a Republican rift, if the Republicans have a rift over the kind of cheese to serve at the campaign rally, that's a week's worth of stories. But we don't get those kinds of stories on the Democrat side until it's gotten to the breaking point.

So this is a new one on me, liberal Jews in south Florida have no interest in voting for Obama. That's what it says here, and it's from a Democrat strategerist. It isn't me. Now, does this mean they're going to vote for McCain? I don't know. Ah. May not have to. Ralph Nader has entered the scene again, really made Tim Russert mad yesterday. (laughing) (cont.)

[GMax]

Clarice

Well I remain to be convinced by action. I can remember some of my colleagues in a National CPA, intelligent, down to earth and otherwise conservative sounding individuals who nevertheless would never think of doing anything other than voting Democrat. These folks were Jewish. It always baffled me.

Next to blacks, this has been the most reliable of all voting blocs for the Democrats.

Frankly if Cynthia McKinney did not drive them away, I wonder if a Palestinian sympathizer ( with a close advisor with quite radical views on Israel and Palestine )is going to do so. Maybe that is why we are getting so much grief about his middle name. If everyone will just shut up, and listen to the Hope and Change and Chickens in every pot speeches, maybe the Jewish vote will forget his pro Palestine views.

[GMax]

How long before we see a pining for a butterfly ballot to hold down the number of ballots cast in Palm Beach ! It will happen if this holds up.

[clarice]

Cynthia McKinney wasn't sufficient to blast thru because she's a kok of relevance only to her then-District. This is a presidential election and it matters.
I knew this was happening because my mom knows she's the only one in the immediate family not a registered Rep at this point and so normally wouldn't volunteer her political inclinations, but she did and even volunteered that tidbit about McCain. These condo commandos eat. live and breathe politics--the notions my mom expressed didn't just pop in her head. I am certain the commandos have decided and the Dem organizer Rush quoted is telling the truth.

And they will not simply not vote. Not voting to them is apostasy. McCain's okay with them. They'll vote for him.

[clarice]

**KOOK**

[clarice]

Now, remember these are not big city urbanites..these are old retired Jews, largely from the East Coast but as well from the MidWest.
If you are talking NYC or CHicago or SF or DC YMMV

[GMax]

Still I seem to remember the numbers stack up as about 80% of Jews voted for John Kerry. If that number slips significantly towards 50/50 it means Barry what his name must get that many more blacks and 18-20 YO out just to match Kerry's performance.

We might be looking at the start of a rout. A big McGovern/Dukakis sized rout. Think about Connecticut voting Republican. If Jews abandon the Democrats there, that could easily happen.

[clarice]

Yes, it could, and next month it appears Hezbollah plans a major attack onIsrael which will further underscore the difference between Obama and McCain ---at last the condo commandos seem to grasp the difference between saying you support Israel while dismantling our military and defense capabilities and actually like you know being for an America strong enough to defend herself and be of actual asistance to real allies (as opposed to being a relief convoy).

[Jim Miller]

Tom - My own contribution to the name question is to call the junior senator Barack "Arugula" Obama. I think that nickname captures his essence better than Hussein. He was raised by whites (mostly) and spent much of his life in elite, mostly white institutions. Think of him as a snobbish white kid who is pretending, for political purposes, to be black.

Of course, the official Republican campaign can't use any of these names. But we can.

Clarice - Feel free to borrow from my post on the Canadian controversy. I put it up just this morning.

To all - Check out some of the comments from Canadians after that CTV story. They are not happy with these statements from Clinton and Obama.

[clarice]

Thanks, Jim, but the Canadians are adamantly denying that story.

[clarice]

I put the blaming of job loss on NAFTA (contra factual and idiotically protectionist in the Smoot-Hawley self-destructive sense) in a basket with other Dem initiatives like killing the Central American trade agreement, cutting off assistance to Colombia,wanting us in hell holes like Darfur where we have no national interest and out of Iraq where we do. And looking at that basket I've determined that one of our two parties is full of really stupid nutters.

[Anon]

Jim-

Can you put a direct link to the Canadian comments-I can't find it....

Man there is nothing funnier than a bunch of pissed off Canadians than perhaps a bunch off pissed off Aussies.

[kim]

Drunk, pissed off colonials are best. I got into it with one over global warming, and about died laughing.
=================

[Anon]

Jim-

Nevermind-found it.

Thanks for the heads up-off to go read that should be good.

[Anon]

kim-

Ya their libbers and conservatives are the best-don't know what it is-the beer?

[Rick Ballard]

Anon,

Jim's site is here and well worth a bookmark.

[Enlightened]

OT (and considering I got this off Perezhilton hah!)

"Texas-bred gal Angie Harmon has announced that she's supporting Republican Senator John McCain in his bid for the White House.

You see, not everyone in Hollywood is Democrat!

The TV actress also claims that there's a lot of McCain support in LA and that there's an underground Republican party in the city of Angels.

"There are a lot more people in L.A. voting for McCain than you think,” Harmon says."

Maybe this explains the cesspool non-event that was the Oscars this year?

[MayBee]

"There are a lot more people in L.A. voting for McCain than you think,” Harmon says."

I'm going to look for her at the grocery store and ask her where they all are.

[boris]

The core is to drill a handful of key adjectives into the public mind about Barack Obama: Muslim, anti-American, BLACK, terrorist, Arab.

All that is just PC cover for the real reason the name Hussein is to be neutralized and suppressed by tainting it with various forms of bigotry.

Actually it is the name Obama, similar to Osama that does all that. Hussein was a white secular socialist dictator who clearly had absolutely nothing to do with 911 or terrorism. But, and this is the poison in the pill, he was the white secular socialist dictator of IRAQ and that linkage is the real problem. Now that Iraq is moving into the success column that linkage must not be allowed.

The US is winning in Iraq after bringing down Hussein and now Obama wants to turn it over to Osama. So the three things voters want to avoid at all costs is the symbolism, irony and rhyme of:

Iraq H u s s e i n Osama

[boris]

Minor correction ... the three things Obama wants voters to avoid at all costs is the symbolism, irony and rhyme of:

Iraq H u s s e i n Osama

[Jim Miller]

Clarice - Thanks for letting me know about that denial from the Canadian embassy. But CTV is sticking to their story. So I am still inclined to think that the story is true -- though not as strongly as I was before.

This may be a case where Mandy Rice-Davies famous quip applies: "He would [deny an affair], wouldn't he?"

Rick - Thanks for the compliment.

[clarice]

Yes, Jim. It is more likely that the Embassy would feel compelled to deny the story even were it true. After all, if Barack wins, it would make Ottawa his first target. %) Still, with a denial it is less of a story.

As for CTV-I recall reading yesterday that one of their stringers in Afghanistan is being charged with working for the enemy.

[Ann]

Boris, that was terrific!

Jim, you are bookmarked. :)

[bgates]

I've determined that one of our two parties is full of really stupid nutters.
Can you believe, the Democrats are even worse?

[clarice]

HEH

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

I went through all the loan docs that went with the PINs but I can't write an article without the plats. Even the second mortgage that reduced BHO's cash outlay might have been for a remodel, although no liens were filed.

That place looks like a real money pit.

If the Chicago Tribune employed actual reporters they could nail a very big story. Alternatively, they have the story and are holding it or verifying angles and we'll see it in the fullness of time.

[Jane]

Jim,

I would think if Obama had not made that reported denial to Canada, Canadians would be mad as hell that he intends to terminate NAFTA. I was surprised there wasn't an opinion linked to that denial. I think it probably did happen for that reason.

Oh and I wouldn't be surprised if MA went for McCain - that's right. Do not underestimate how Patrick has angered the people in this state - the same people who a year ago required nothing of substance from him because he talked pretty. OTOH people here loved Mac in 2000, so I bet some of that lingers on.

[clarice]

If anyone reading this is in Chicago maybe they can get the plats for you. If this appeal doesn't work, maybe I can see if a friend there can help.

[Ann]

RUSH had a great segment today on " Who Pushed Hussein Angle First?"

Essentially, it was:

Who was it that released that picture of Obama in the Ayman al-Zawahiri garb? Hillary Clinton

Who first really made a big deal of Obama's middle name? Senator Bob Kerrey, Democrat

Who was it that ran around and talked about him selling drugs, and maybe being a coke dealer? Bill Shaheen, Democrat

Who was it who started playing the race card? Bob Johnson, BET and Bill Shaheen

Who sent out e-mails referring to Obama as a Muslim? Clinton staff in Iowa that were later fired

[clarice]

The whole NAFTA thing is obvious carp anyway. How do you singlehandedly renegotiate a signed treaty?
Either we withdraw from it--not going to happen--or we leave it pretty much as it is. There's no reason for Canada and Mexico to agree to revisions more favorable to us.

[ben]

Remember the Al Gore vs. Ross Perot debate on NAFTA, on live TV? When Al Gore (was that Hillary's husband's Vice-President?) squashed Perot in the debate? Maybe we can de-mothball Al and bring him in for a debate with Obamamessiah.

[paul]

Is 'Hussein' the new n-word?

(safe for some, offensive for others)

perhaps we can request that it be bleeped out on radio.

[paul]

"Remember the Al Gore..."

no, not really.

[ben]

Of course there are many good arguments not to scrap NAFTA. Among them the fact that this treaty was negotiated for years, very complex to get everyone finally to agree, it had to be approved by the legislative bodies in all countries, etc. It's a major committment, it was designed to provide a hemispheric counter balance to the EU, it is not something to be tossed around as campaign candy for special interests....what credibility would the U.S. have on any agreement if someone like Obama could just waltz in and trash it...has anyone asked him about NATO yet?

[ben]

Paul, you are right...let Al Gore RIP...sorry I brought him up, so to speak...

[Chip Gill]

Don't waste your time on TPM.

Josh is a bigmouth halfwit leftist, and if you tweak him just right he'll respond with a blue streak of obscenities unbecoming of an Ivy leaguer.

I know, I've done it. The best part was the dripping sanctimony.

[GMax]

Even the second mortgage that reduced BHO's cash outlay might have been for a remodel, although no liens were filed.

Whaaaat? Who loans out $250 K and does not take a lien? Please point me to the right line to stand in where they are giving away money.

My spider senses say if an investigative journalist with any knowledge of zoning, mortgages and deeds looked into this, several items that we dont currently know or understand would become crystal clear.

But then Diogenes was doomed to search in vain wasn't he?

[Sara]

Can't we just call him "Hussy" for short. Works for me.

BTW, the name Hussein for me is not related to Saddam Hussein, it is relevant because it is the name of his father and his heritage of Arab-African, with emphasis on the Arab part and his association with Odinga of Kenya and his association with al-Qaeda. The only "black" meaning African Negro blood is one ancestor, his Grandmother. Otherwise he is pure Arab on his father's side.

[Rick Ballard]

GMax,

The mortgage lien was filed - I couldn't find any construction liens. Some jurisdictions require the filing of a preliminary notice within 10 days of starting works and there was one prior builder's lien and release in the docs.

[GMax]

So maybe Barack was a victim of those predators who were making those subprime mortgage. You know like when they agree to loan virtually 100% of the property purchase price. How is a Harvard educated lawyer suppose to fare against a bunch of jackals like that?

[Enderbury]

What's in a name?

Q: Who was the greatest German general of WWII ?

A: Nope, Eisenhower.

[clarice]

I didn't want to post all of this marvelous Taranto shtick as Jim Miller had done so on his excellent site, but I HAVE to--it's so good:

So let's see if we have this straight. Al Qaeda in Iraq isn't worth fighting because it wouldn't be there if it weren't for Bush and McCain. Obama is going to pull all U.S. troops out of Iraq to go fight in Afghanistan and Pakistan, although he will send them back to Iraq if al Qaeda are there, even though he now wants to withdraw notwithstanding al Qaeda's presence.
online.wsj.com/article/SB...+Web+Today

[ben]

Somehow I think if Gilda Radner were still around she might have come up with a good alternative name for Obama on SNL.....something to rhyme with Rosana Rosanadana...

[centralcal]

Thanks, Clarice, I missed reading Taranto today and will go make up for it now.

[Ann]

According to Townhall, BOH has only spent two days in Iraq in January 2006. Also, when given a chance to visit Afghanistan and Pakistan, he went to the Palestinian territories.

"After spending two days in Baghdad Obama broke from the CODEL, which included Bayh, Sen. Christopher Bond (R.-Mo.) and Rep. Harold Ford (D.-Tenn.), early to spend eight days in Israel, Kuwait, Jordan and the Palestinian territories. Bayh's delegation later went on to Afghanistan and Pakistan without Obama."

Obama Has Spent Only Two Days in Iraq

[hit and run]

By the way, the VIMH has been unleashed upon the world the blogosphere unsuspecting baby pixels.

I really really really want to caution that it will be no more than a marginal effort.

Every once in a while, something hits me that isn't really appropriate here or AT or whatever. It'll get dumped there just so that it's not solely a conversation between me and the VIMH.

But it ain't gonna be much.

[kim]

I've got to thank Josh for one thing. He was slavering over the Yellowcake story in June and early July of 2004 when Joe Wilson made a fool of himself in front of the SSCI. That was my hook.

Now why was I reading Josh Marshall back then? Maybe I'd better be still, now.
===============

[Jane]

Go Hit! I've got one too, but I'm waiting to become a bit more polished before I emerge in public.

[centralcal]

Cool - H&R (J.D.)! I like the VIMH name - it is sooooo . . . You!

Of course, for old time's sake you coulda named it "Threadherder!"

[clarice]

I knew it was just a matter of time before HIT sought a bigger pond than ours. Smooches on this new effort ,Hit.

[Ann]

Great name for your blog, Hit. I don't think I can get use to calling you Jeff. Can we still call you Hit or other endearing names? Can the ladies discuss mud-wrestling? Can we bring up drinking beer? So many questions.

You must give us some guidelines. ;)

[JM Hanes]

Hit!

Fantastic! I'm going to put in my order for an "I knew him when" button post haste. Whenever daily posting seems too burdensome, there have got to be a gazillion anecdotes you can use to fill in. This one from Geldorf's description of a lunch with the President for Peace Corps volunteers in Ghana seems right up your alley:

One woman tells how six months previously, she was bitten by a cobra and rushed to hospital. As she was passing out, she tells the President, "that little voice whispered to me, 'You'll be all right,' and I was." She pauses, and says meaningfully to him: "You know that little voice, I think?" "Not really," Bush says drily. "I've never been bitten by a cobra."

Courage!

You too, Jane? More great news. Can't wait for the takeoff, so to speak.

[JJ]

Hear him, hear him.

Great post, TM. My prediction is that this campaign season is going to the worst linguistic nightmare that this country has experienced -- a perfect storm of it and your post nails the divide that will exist between the "conventional wisdom" that Barack will attempt to keep rolling and the actual thoughtfulness and reflection that many voters will really have to have to make a choice.

Not that there's really much to choose here yet since up to this point Obama has done little fact-giving about who he is and emphasized his eloquence and good feeling about... ah, his ability to be eloquent and feel good.

[JJ]

Hear him, hear him.

Great post, TM. My prediction is that this campaign season is going to the worst linguistic nightmare that this country has experienced -- a perfect storm of it and your post nails the divide that will exist between the "conventional wisdom" that Barack will attempt to keep rolling and the actual thoughtfulness and reflection that many voters will really have to have to make a choice.

Not that there's really much to choose here yet since up to this point Obama has done little fact-giving about who he is and emphasized his eloquence and good feeling about... ah, his ability to be eloquent and feel good.

[JJ]

Hear him, hear him.

Great post, TM. My prediction is that this campaign season is going to the worst linguistic nightmare that this country has experienced -- a perfect storm of it and your post nails the divide that will exist between the "conventional wisdom" that Barack will attempt to keep rolling and the actual thoughtfulness and reflection that many voters will really have to have to make a choice.

Not that there's really much to choose here yet since up to this point Obama has done little fact-giving about who he is and emphasized his eloquence and good feeling about... ah, his ability to be eloquent and feel good.

[hit and run]

Thanks folks.

I'm just hit and run. Will always be that here -- and will always be here.

That blog isn't about anything other than a home for passing off stuff that has no other home. I don't expect it will be much. The volume will probably be in direct proportion to the number of social events mrs hit and run attends...the quality on the other hand in direct proportion to my beer budget.

[JJ]

Hear him, hear him.

Great post, TM. My prediction is that this campaign season is going to the worst linguistic nightmare that this country has experienced -- a perfect storm of it and your post nails the divide that will exist between the "conventional wisdom" that Barack will attempt to keep rolling and the actual thoughtfulness and reflection that many voters will really have to have to make a choice.

Not that there's really much to choose here yet since up to this point Obama has done little fact-giving about who he is and emphasized his eloquence and good feeling about... ah, his ability to be eloquent and feel good.

[ian]

Marshall, in addition to being a hack whose opinions are bought and paid for, is the most thin-skinned blogger I ever experienced. I posted something on his sight a few years back and literally within 10 seconds he was emailing a nasty and pointless reply. I responded by saying that such a prompt response was a bit disturbing and wondering if he didn't have anything better to do. The next time he actually highlighted my comment on his site, criticized it and of course turned out to be completely wrong. From that point on I stopped wasting my time.

[clarice]

I checked him out only once. I was trying to figure out the genesis of the Rather 60 Minute fiasco and the first mention of the National Guard business I could find was on TPM which provided further evidence to me that Sid Blumenthal was deeply involved in that story--other evidence is that he just happened to be in Texas when the story broke and reported on it for the Guardian with a timeline that suggests he sent it before Rather ran the story.

[clarice]

**other evidence is that he--Blumenthal--- just happened ***

[Hunter McDaniel]

That's a great quip about music being "better than it sounds", but I'm pretty sure the original target of that quip was Gustav Mahler, not Ricard Wagner.