Calling Captain America

Abbott and Costello Obama and Biden appeared together today and delivered a gaffe-fest:

When introducing his running mate, Obama said, "So let me introduce to you the next president - the next vice president of the US of America, Joe Biden."

And then when it was Biden's turn to speak, the Delaware senator called the presumptive Democratic nominee "Barack America" instead of Barack Obama.

"My friends, I don't have to tell you, this election year the choice is clear. One man stands ready to deliver change we desperately need. A man I’m proud to call my friend. A man who will be the next president of the United States, Barack America,” Biden said, per ABC News' Sunlen Miller.

However the official Obama campaign transcript of Biden's remarks sent to reporters omitted part of the misspeak, reading: "A man who will be the next president of the United States, Barack Amer – You know, you learn a lot of things being up close with a guy."

You learn a lot of things being up close with a guy.  Sometimes including his name.  Should be a fun couple of months and maybe even a zany four (Or eight! Or eight to ten!  Or twelve!) years.

Comments

[bgates]

Or sixteen.

Biden's going to need to keep working that long to be able to afford to retire (see my comments last post).

[MarkO]

CAPTAIN America to you.

[Daddy]

Who was Captain America's sidekick? Wasn't it Bucky, Bucky Biden.

[section9]

Yes, it was the wildly gay blade, Bucky, who was mysteriously dropped after World War II. Looks like the Army found out about Bucky's goings on during those weekends in Amsterdam after the War. I mean, there was never anything to those rumors about Cap, but the Army couldn't afford to let Bucky hang around Captain America long enough to screw up the appropriations process.

Bucky didn't age well. He ended up ignored by all his friends. Very much like the sad end of the main character from Brideshead Revisited. This happens to lots of Plucky Sidekicks.

See, if there's just one whiff of a Homoerotic relationship with the Marquee Superhero, well, that's puts the kibosh on the relationship. I mean, look what happened to the whole "Bruce" Wayne and "Master" Robin affair. Killed off the whole Heroic Sidekick industry and sent it off to Fire Island with Harvey Firestein.

[B]

Now that is interesting! Barak is all over McCain because he can't remember how many houses he has when Barak can't even remember which office he's running for. I smell an ad.

B

[B]

Now that is interesting! Barak is all over McCain because he can't remember how many houses he has when Barak can't even remember which office he's running for. I smell an ad.

B

[ParseThis]

I smell an ad:

John’s eaten up with envy. His image of himself was always the handsome, celebrity flyboy. Now somebody else is the celebrity.

That led to "Celebrity" and "The One" so "Superhero" is surely in the works. The American people, perceptive as they are to perceived slights, will no doubt sympathize with McCain's wounded ego.

[JM Hanes]

Go for it ParseThis, what ever it is you think you're talking about. Somebody should really turn the psycho-babble lens on Dowd, but apparently nobody thinks it's worth the effort.

[Sara]

Good lord Parse, this isn't high school. Grow up.

[Topsecretk9]

Heh. Don't have much time as I have company, but loved ace's

O'Biden

and how he sliced and diced the left's reclassification of Biden's racism as softy and "all in the family" like, purposeful and needed.

If anything the democrats are good at, it's rearranging history to benefit or excuse themselves. They need to [package erasers, scissors and ear-plugs to the masses as their perfect Democrat voter pouch.

[Sara]

Or they lie about history and hope if they tell the lie often enough, it will start to be believed.

CIA and Tenet Refute Suskind's Forgery Allegations

In no uncertain terms either.

[Topsecretk9]

n introducing his running mate, Obama said, "So let me introduce to you the next president - the next vice president of the US of America, Joe Biden."

And then when it was Biden's turn to speak, the Delaware senator called the presumptive Democratic nominee "Barack America" instead of Barack Obama.

Nah ah?

I said to someone today that I think Obama showed too many of his cards and most people will look at the dems as the upside down ticket...most people will see

the experienced senator gas bag should be the president and the inexperienced Messiah hope of all that is right, should be VP.

And since the Dems couldn't figure THIS out the will be punished in a brutal way.

[Topsecretk9]

Oh my lordy...Jonah Goldberg email:

If Obama sent it at 3am and it wasn't their intention to highlight the Hillary ad, then they are more out of touch than anyone could imagine.

Out. Of. Touch> and dumb, young and full of Obama.

[Topsecretk9]

Yikes.

[Sara]

Isn't this special?

The Gang's All Here

Dateline Denver, 1:00 am: Anita and I just returned from a party hosted by Salon.com at a very beautiful townhouse they rented for the convention.

We had a terrific time. How was it different than past convention parties? There was much more mingling of Mainstream Media with bloggers, and not only did the MSM attendees know each and every blog, they read us and, if I can be Sally Field for the moment, they like us!

It was great to see Duncan Black (aka Atrios of Eschaton), Jane of Firedoglake, Glenn Greenwald, John Amato of Crooks and Liars, Taylor Marsh to name just a few.

I had a great time talking to Jeffrey Toobin, and we reminisced about the time in 2003 when I took him to dinner at a Vegan restaurant in San Francisco with Markos of Daily Kos...

...

Joan Walsh of Salon was very gracious. Anita wasn't crazy about seeing Joe Klein.

[M. Simon]

Sara,

That is not the only party gang:

Obama Chicago Gang Connection?

[Sara]

I read the earlier comment and thought, now we're getting into scary country.

When I lived in Indianapolis, I used to love to drive up to Chicago to shop and spend a day. Now I think I'd be paranoid as hell walking those streets.

It reminds me of when I was in my early twenties and had a small duplex apt. on the West Side of Buffalo, NY and my boss insisted I move because he was sure I was renting from the Mafia. I thought my landlady was just a big Mama Mia Mama who was a really good cook. The place was kind of shabby and the rent was low, but then I started noticing that the whole landlady family drove big black menacing cars and the men all looked like someone out of a "B" gangster movie with lots of gold, big rolls of cash, and no visible jobs that I knew about. I moved to the North side where it was a little less ethnic and a little more white bread, which made my boss happy and when he was happy, it made my life a whole lot easier. I shudder to think how naive (and pliable) I was back then.

[Sara]

This video needs to be shared far and wide.

The Second American Revolution (VIDEO)

[pagar]

Good Morning to All!

Haven't seen this one mentioned on JOM anywhere. The Washington Post article-----

"Biden's Son, Brother Named in Two Suits"

"A lawsuit filed by their former partner Anthony Lotito Jr. asserts in court papers that the deal was crafted to get Hunter Biden out of lobbying because his father was concerned about the impact it would have on his bid for the White House."

LUN

[kim]

Biden's tangled, don't doubt it. Who called him an Agnew? It's a bad bideness.

And that's why Obama told Nahncee she'd like his choice.
===========================

[kim]

Galloping Gaelic Gladiator.

Hmmm. Obama as Sancho Panza?
====================

[NotSean]

I remember this blog when it was a clearing house for in depth reporting on the Plame story. Sad to see it's deteriorated into another one of those wingnut blogs where out of touch old codgers congratulate themselves on mocking the Democrats. That ain't going to win this election, fogies. It's no joke that the American public is struggling and angry about these last 8 years. McCain better start addressing their concerns in a positive fashion rather than sit in his mansion sending out surrogates to mock the other guy.

Another worry: Won't the evangelicals have a problem with Romney's religion? And isn't his business record a liability in the unemployed rust belt? Why do they think he'll be an asset in Michigan?

[PeterUK]

Obama and Biden.The Loan Arranger and Tonto.

[Jane]

Pagar,

I'd heard he was a lobbyist, but they kept talking yesterday about his son being the AG of Delaware - must be the second son.

Oh goody! Lobbyists, Hedge Funds - I smell an Obama exception for family members!

[PeterUK]

"That ain't going to win this election, fogies."

Sod off Spotty.

[BarackAmerick]

Won't the evangelicals have a problem with Romney's religion? Not after Obama's horrible performance at Saddleback.

And isn't his business record a liability in the unemployed rust belt? No, thanks to Granholm and Dems making things even worse.

Why do they think he'll be an asset in Michigan? Obviously you know nothing of Michigan history.

It seems like the Libs are very scared of Romney. If Mitt is such a liability, you'd think the left would be pushing for him. Just like the Republicans pushed for Slow Joe Biden.

[clarice]

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/can-obama-survive-the-annenberg-cover-up/

[kim]

Excellent, c. Isn't it 160 million total, and aren't they releasing them, sort of, next Tuesday? You are right, the lie at the beginning is very revelatory of the flim-flam essence of Obama, and Public Education is a raw nerve which cuts across political lines. It'll be a big issue this election and next, too.
=========================================

[Patton]

The McCain campaign should refer to Biden as "Senator CornPop".

Do you think Andrew Sullivan will look into Bidens CornPop switchblade story? Afterall, Biden never told the story for 40 years. maybe we should all e-mail Sullivan since he has a babyBlog that doesn't allow posters to totally destroy his posts.

This GQ article is very interesting ...

Here, Biden offers a shy sort of grin—he’s well aware of his reputation—and asks permission to indulge himself. And suddenly, he’s not talking about Kennedy anymore. He’s talking about Joe Biden as a 19-year-old lifeguard at an inner-city swimming pool in Wilmington who’s yelling at Ester “Cornpop” Williams, “Hey, Ester! Quit jumping up and down on the diving board!”

“He wouldn’t get off,” Biden says. “So I jumped in, took him out, and kicked him out of the pool. Well, so I’m closing the pool at dusk, and I always parked my Chevy convertible outside of this gate. The year before, there’d been a white lifeguard who’d gotten sixty, eighty stitches around the middle of his back because straight razors were the thing in those days. God, give me back straight razors instead of Glocks. Anyway. So Cornpop and some of his guys are waiting in my car for me with their straight razors. I say to the maintenance man, ‘Look, let’s call the park police.’ He says, ‘You do that, you might as well quit.’ I said, ‘Man, I’m not gonna go out there.’ So he took me out to the boiler room, got a great big roll of chain, and cut off six feet and said, ‘Wrap it around your arm, put a towel over it, and you go out and tell ’em you’re gonna wrap that goddamn chain around their head.’

So he’s watching, everyone’s watching, what am I gonna do? I go out. Six foot one, 155 pounds, right? I walk out, they creak their straight razors open. So I take off the towel and say, ‘Cornpop, you may cut me, but I’m gonna wrap this chain around your head and hurt you.’

“Or that’s what I was supposed to say,” Biden says, leaning forward now, smiling. “That’s Scoop Jackson. But here’s what I said: ‘I was wrong in calling you out, Cornpop. You were wrong jumping on the board, and I should’ve thrown you out, but I shouldn’t have called you Ester.’ He looked at me. ‘You apologize for calling me Ester? Okay.’ Puts up his razor, goes home. The point is, you gotta be prepared to use the chain—but there’s other ways to do it. You know what I mean?”

Ahh, Cornpop's switchblade was no match for the masterful Biden.

So when Russia invades Georgia, Bidens foriegn policy advice to Obama will be; "Ask the janitor".

[Captain Hate]

Tim Kaine just said on FNS that Delaware borders Virginia. Are there any donks that understand geography? There is a state called Maryland that is in between.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Sad to see it's deteriorated into another one of those wingnut blogs where out of touch old codgers congratulate themselves on mocking the Democrats.

Who you calling "out of touch", sonny?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

BTW, congrats, Clarice.

[sbw]

Link to Clarice

[Soylent Red]

Great. Cornpop diplomacy.

Start practicing your Russian.

[anduril]

Provocative column, especially for Surge true believers:

We tilt at windmills as world war looms.

Is the world drifting towards a new global war? From this week the dominant super-power, America, will for three months pass through the valley of the shadow of democracy, a presidential election. This is always a moment of self-absorption and paranoia. Barack Obama and John McCain will not act as statesmen but as politicians. They will grandstand and look over their shoulders. Their eye will stray from the ball.

Meanwhile, along history’s fault line of conflict from Russia’s European border to the Caucasus and on to Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, diplomats are shifting uneasily in their seats, drums are sounding and harsh words are spoken. The world is now run by a generation of leaders who have never known global war. Has this dulled their senses?

Dan McNeill, an American general, was recently interviewed in Kabul on how to beat the Taliban. He was not the first to conclude that this could not be done militarily but only by “winning hearts and minds”. The problem, he said, lay in the answer to the question, “Whose hearts and minds?” Was it those of the Afghan people or was it rather those of the American Congress and voters?

Both Obama and McCain have claimed that the war in Iraq has been allowed to distract attention from the war in Afghanistan. This is different from the neoconservatives, who felt the war in Afghanistan was a distraction from the more important war in Iraq.

America now thinks it has won in Baghdad and must return to Kabul - and possibly even Tehran. At the same time it must face the possibility that these conflicts may in turn be a distraction from the reemergence as world powers of Russia and China, who are already gaining the initiative in Iran and Africa. Moscow is also precipitating a nationalist resurgence in eastern Europe and among Russian minorities in the Caucasus.

Lots more. I don't say I agree with all of it, but it's all food for thought.

[anduril]

Frederick Kagan, a prominent military analyst who has been described as one of the intellectual architects of the US military “surge” in Iraq, added: “We are de facto in an escalation game with the Russians that they appear to be winning.”

[NotSean]

How does Obama's performance at Saddleback change the fact that Romney is a Mormon?

I don't think the dems are afraid of any of McCain's veep choices. The old coot doesn't have any options. He almost has to pick Romney, despite his religion being a problem with the evango-bigots and the fact that they despise each other. But given McCain's limited life expectancy, this choice is actually the more important of the two candidates.

[sbw]

Anduril, it's all talk around the significant reality... the Russians are trying to play a power game with yesterday's tools. While it is true we are disadvantaged by a Democratic Party, a foolish press, and an educational system rife with the appearance of education without substance, the core economic, military, and governmental engines work better because they are better.

The Russians can't win. All that can happen is that civilization will lose.

Now, what is missing from your analysis?

[Rocco]

It's really unbelievable and sickening that an unrepentant terrorist now administers public school curriculum. And thank goodness for places like this and people like you or we'd never know the truth.

I wonder how Suskind explains the authentic documents? The forgeries were added to authentic documents in an attempt to cover up Iraq’s attempt to buy yellowcake in 1999. To assert the administration ordered forgeries and introduced them to documents that already bolsters your case for war is obscene. And Joe Wilson’s lie of omission in “What I Didn’t Find In Africa” is another attempt to cover up the fact that yes indeed, Iraq made an attempt to buy uranium from Niger in 1999.

[sbw]

Suskind's previous hit piece in the New York Times Magazine about the ostensible faith-based isolation of the Bush White House was lauded by PressThink's Jay Rosen. Both the article and the fawning reception by "professional" journalism and its instructors give an indication of the corrosion of the press and of educationists.

I challenged both in "An article of faith" back in 2004. Didn't make a dent. They have no doubt.

[clarice]

kim, it was written before the U of I decided it would release the records and though I sent an update, the editors didn't make it. As for the total figure, Diamond says it was $110 million and the documents may suggest $160 million. As Diamond has done the most work studying the records and as either figure is, in any event, very substantial, I decided the prudent thing was to take the smaller number.

[royf]

And isn't his business record a liability in the unemployed rust belt?

 

Gee NotSean do you think the number of unemployed in the rust belt  is a result of not enough government jobs? The rust belt is mostly run by anti business, pro tax democrats, perhaps someone who understands business is exactly what is needed. After all the dems have controlled things there for years it is their failed policies which have chased all the jobs out of the area.

[centralcal]

Excellent, Clarice!

As an "ordinary" voter who doesn't always have the patience for complex stories, I think you did a great job of keeping the facts clear and easily understood. That really is what needs to be done for the voting masses out there, like me.

Experienced people like you and other's here can analyze all the complex details and loose ends of the CAC/Ayers/Obama connections, but then boil it down to a short, clear narrative for the "ordinary folks" to understand.

[SWarren]

NotSean
He almost has to pick Romney, despite his religion being a problem with the evango-bigots and the fact that they despise each other.

Quit already, with the evango-bigot meme! It doesn't work anymore. Most high-profile evangelical leaders have said a Romney VP pick would be fine with them. The biggest evango-bigot is Huckabee and it looks like McCain may have convinced him to join the unity fold. From Politico, a unity rally scheduled the day before the Republican convention:

Making matters more confusing, Politico has learned that McCain will visit suburban St. Louis for a major rally with Romney and his still-bitter primary nemesis Mike Huckabee on Sunday, Aug. 31, the day before the start of the GOP convention.

Top Missouri Republicans yesterday received the invitation for a rally featuring McCain and his two top primary challengers. They'll be joined by country star John Rich at a minor league baseball stadium in O'Fallon, Mo., about 35 miles west of St. Louis.

Missouri was hard-fought territory on Super Tuesday, with each of the three Republicans faring well. So the event would seem to represent a pre-convention unity rally in a swing state where each has a strong following. But Huckabee and Romney can hardly stand one another, and Huckabee has warned twice this month against selecting his once and perhaps future rival.

It would take a considerable act of pride-swallowing for Huckabee to stand before thousands of fans and watch as McCain touts Romney as his running mate.

But then it would take the same amount of magnamity for Romney to join such a rally the day before the convention if McCain were to tap somebody else as his veep choice and then laud that person in Missouri.

[Larry]

Posted by: kim | August 24, 2008 at 08:53 AM

Posted by: clarice | August 24, 2008 at 10:10 AM

The grant was offered on a two for one matching basis. So, locals would have to raise $100m to get the whole $50m. A number that was published was $60m local funds, qualifying CAC for only $30m, totalling $90m thrown away or at far left interests. Guessing the $110m came from adding $60m (local) and $50m (Annenburg).

Woohoo, Clarice. Great article!

[clarice]

Thanks, centralcal.
So much wonderful work is done by bloggers but most people haven't the time to keep checking around to stay abreast of the story and great work by folks like TM and Steve Gilbert etc would be lost to a bigger public if no one boiled it down for people in a hurry. Consider my stuff a Readers Digest for real folks.

[centralcal]

"Consider my stuff a Readers Digest for real folks."

My point exactly! It informs a wider audience with the salient information they need and can comprehend without too much effort! (And, sadly, that includes many in the MSM who actually seem dumber than the average John or Mary Q. Public.)

[Poes]

I got Biden is really in charge of CIA and that's how Obama's two brothers get their contract checks. I guess the third one they don't like.

Readers Digest for Busy People?

[anduril]

sbw, nothing is missing from MY analysis. The problem is that the CW about Russia is based on a number of faulty assumptions.

1. That Russia doesn't know it's own strengths and weaknesses. The lesson of Georgia is how cautious Russia actually was, how careful not to go to far. This itself is a refutation of Ralph Peters' claim today that Russia "always overreaches." Russia knows its weaknesses as well as its strengths. Its weaknesses are demographic, geographic and economic--an overreliance on export of raw materials to earn money, which is simultaneously its strength, what has gotten it back on the world stage.

2. That what we are seeing is a rebirth of Russian imperialism. I think that analysis is based on a faulty knowledge of history, that assumes one need know no more about Russian history than the twentieth century (the same could have been said about Germany, and England in an earlier period). There is good reason to believe that Russia's aims are limited in scope and compatible with good neighborliness as far as NATO is concerned. And Russia can win if its aims are carefully tailored to its strengths and weaknesses.

3. As I have repeated endlessly, Russia knows that it's not as strong as the US, but that doesn't mean that they can no longer have a sphere of influence within traditional historic bounds--nor does it mean that it shouldn't. Moreover, if you attach any credence to Simon Jenkin's ideas--not total credence, just some--it immediately becomes apparent what an enormous mistake we made in deciding to go it alone in Afghanistan (I don't count NATO for much in Afghanistan) after both Russia and Iran provided us with much needed assistance. (I didn't link Robert Tracinski's What to Do About Pakistan yesterday because, while provocative, it was a bit too harebrained to suit my purpose. However, a critical analysis of his idea should lead one in a similar direction as what I'm suggesting--albeit quite different than Tracinski's.)

4. Geopolitics isn't necessarily a zero sum game, although American strategists (and neocons in particular) seem to treat it that way. Russia or American winning needn't mean defeat for the other. There really is such a thing as a win win situation, and the whole really can be greater than the parts. Less hubris, please. If we were too overextended to do anything about Georgia, what else are we too overextended to do?

5. I disagree strongly with Jenkins' naive secular view that war doesn't arise from a conflict of civilizations. The story is much more complex than his philosophy allows. The weakness of the West is its lack of a coherent civilizational view--and Benedict XVI has much to teach both America and Europe about that.

6. Rather than expanding NATO to the very gates of St. Petersburg or, virtually, Moscow and Volgograd, we need to review the concept of buffer states--not just militarily but also from a civilizational standpoint as mediators between Russia and the West. Armenia has reconciled itself to that, to its own advantage. There is no reason that countries like Georgia should not.

[Captain Hate]

many in the MSM who actually seem dumber than the average John or Mary Q. Public.

Which makes their arrogance the best example of hubris I can think of.

[blackbox20]

Here's a great video that looks into the future and shows Sen. McCain on his first day on the job and our next President.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQhXavsMlQc

wa

[clarice]

David Maraniss has an extensive multipage segment (indeed a whole newspaper section) in today's Wash Post about Obama.He's a fine writer who did an outstanding original piece of research re Gore and Bush' comparative academic achievements when they ran against eachother.

[clarice]

blackbox..it's a tribute to the intelligence of those who put together this anti-mcCain ad that they are stuck on the spelling of "against".

[anduril]

The One already has the votes of those to whom that ad would appeal. He doesn't even need Biden to appeal to those people. It's like a lot of the mindless cheerleading that goes on here, except on the opposite side.

[clarice]

Frank Marshall Davis, Obama's Communist mentor, also was a child rapist:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/08/obamas_teenage_mentor_liked_se.html>Oh, brother!

[glenda waggoner]

NotSean: Codgers? Fogeys?

The last time I checked, my vote was worth the same as a young idiots'. History shows, more of the "oldies but goodies" will vote. So?

[sbw]

Anduril, I suspect I speak to the underlying structure of the carpet and you speak to the threads in between. Without the one, there is no support for the other.

Another way, if there is strategy, and then tactics, there needs to be something of substance even before strategy.

[Cecil Turner]

Ah, yes. I often find myself wondering, "what is Simon Jenkins thinking." And his brilliant prediction on how the surge would play out is an inspiration:

The idea that such a hell-hole can be policed back to normality with an extra 20,000 American troops is absurd.

(He has several follow-on surge articles that are just as insightful, marking him as a particular expert on the subject.) This, however, is even better than usual:

Both Obama and McCain have claimed that the war in Iraq has been allowed to distract attention from the war in Afghanistan.

It fundamentally misstates McCain's (wrong) position on Iraq/Afghanistan:

"Sen. Obama will tell you we can't win in Afghanistan without losing in Iraq. In fact, he has it exactly backwards," McCain told a town hall meeting. "It is precisely the success of the surge in Iraq that shows us the way to succeed in Afghanistan."

But more fundamentally, it totally misses on the basic issue of collective security.

Briefly, the post-WWII international security apparatus (UN Security Council) is dysfunctional because it requires unanimity amongst the five permanent members, and two of them are more interested in playing the "great game" than in security. Russia in particular has been very active in promoting instability, (e.g., in Iran, by building nuclear reactors and providing fuel, selling advanced integrated air defenses, and trying to undermine the defenses of those who see the Mullahs as a threat). The state sponsors of various terrorism and related activities are not necessarily in a “collaborative operational relationship” . . . but their goals and strategies overlap. Responding to one of these brushfires whilst ignoring the others is clearly faulty. And the apparent desire amongst many to punish the Taliban for 9/11--and spend all available US military resources in a fruitless search of Afghan mountain ranges--makes no sense as a national security strategy. As difficult as it may be, an approach that includes diplomacy, a cooperative defensive framework, and treaties and agreements is necessary . . . and it must be an all-fronts effort.

And though it may dismay a certain segment of fellow travelers and fifth columnists, that definitely includes providing negative incentives for foreign powers who use invasion as an integral part of their hard-sell diplomacy.

[BobS]

Anduril: You may like this Ralph Peters piece from yesterday

LUN

[sbw]

Cecil, what I alluded to abstractly, you approach substantively and succinctly. Well done.

[BobS]

Actually it looks like it was posted late Friday RCP. I couldn't find anything in there I could disagree with

[sbw]

Georgia should remove the scales from some people's eyes. It won't.

Democrats can't admit that there are some countries where diplomacy needs to be backed up with consequences, nor can they admit that the U.N. is dysfunctional without a wholesale reassessment of their platitudes.

I expect no change. In last night's newspaper my congressman just recycled threadbare energy platitudes the rest of us know won't work. Either he can't see the reality, believes the press won't call him on it, or believes the public will not make him pay the price at the polls. What the Democratic leadership is calling the party line in energy is as bankrupt as its foreign policy.

[NotSean]

A bunch of elderly conspiracy kooks expect the American public to be outraged that Obama didn't know the background of the elderly ex-hippie kook who lived in his neighborhood? I know the echo chamber is comfy, but try and get real.

McCain's extravagent wealth is something tangible that is going to resonate a lot more powerfully with voters than the hodgepodge of poo throwing the Republicans are counting on against Obama.

[sbw]

but try and get real

Hmmm. At least $110 million frittered away to no real effect by a man who claims to be capable of being an executive...

And some of that $110 million was passed out to old time Maoist buddies...

All the time undermining education, the cornerstone of democracy...

And lying to the American people about One's involvement in the scheme.

Yep. I'll try to get real.

[Rick Ballard]

SBW,

C'mon - show some envy and jealosy here. Don't you know that McCain's wife's family wealth is the most important thing in the world.

And her family got that filthy dough by ripping off good decent Americans - one beer at a time.

[clarice]

Elderly? What's the age difference between Ayres and Obama? Ten or thirteen years?

[Jane]

RECREATE '68!

Ya gotta love it. If Obama was smart he'd get bill Ayers out there to support the movement, and thus prove his lack of association.

Charlie, have you checked "Recreate '68 out?

[PeterUK]

"A bunch of elderly conspiracy kooks expect the American public to be outraged that Obama didn't know the background of the elderly ex-hippie kook who lived in his neighborhood? I know the echo chamber is comfy, but try and get real."

Notorious "elderly hippie" and attempted mass murderer who is on the same board as Obama.
Are you saying Obama is so lacking in political savvy he doesn't know when not to play with shit?

As for money,two things come to mind Kerry and Kennedy.

[Jack is Back!]

NotSean: Don't be so gutless and hide your true identity. McCain has extravagant wealth? You mean his wife does, just like Kerry's wife. And as far as the Obama-Ayers-Klonsky connection - you haven't seen anything yet. You think that McCain and his staff won't be on that like stink on a skunk? You have a lot to learn and seem typical of the young Obummer supporters - no experience and no guts.

[PeterUK]

"And her family got that filthy dough by ripping off good decent Americans - one beer at a time."

You mean H&R owns the Republican candidate?

[kim]

'Elderly ex-hippie kook' is an inadequate description for an unrepentant terrorist who is Vice President for Curriculm Affairs in a public school organization. It's about as good as 'English professor....who lives in the neighborhood'.

So G'wan. Where's the Grade A Boeuf?
====================================

[matt]

the tribal areas of Pakistan are the new Cambodia except that they have become the heart of the Taliban homeland. Training camps, bases (such as they are), headquarters, ammunition dumps, etc have to be destroyed or disabled. Until we can do this, we will be faced with the same long slog. When a significant portion of the Pakistani government works directly against our interests and supports the Taliban, this becomes an even more difficult equation.

We have to dry up the pipeline of fighters as well. Creating a lot of Gold Crescent mothers will eventually discourage the others.

All the while doing this, we have to create a functional 21st century state that actually produces something other people want from an 18th century drug mafia thugocracy.

[matt]

If McCain is elected, I predict the beer industry will secretly run America....

[Captain Hate]

If McCain is elected, I predict the beer industry will secretly run America....

In that case, I want a cabinet of Belgians.

[M. Simon]

Sad to see it's deteriorated into another one of those wingnut blogs where out of touch old codgers congratulate themselves on mocking the Democrats.

We prefer experienced.

And the Democrats are sooooo mockable.

[clarice]

On H & C ;last night I heard one of the Dem spinmeisters pretending that the issue was O knowing an unnamed domestic thug thirty years ago. Certainly, he knew better. The more the facts are distorted the more seriously the liars believe the truth will hurt.

[clarice]

If beer runs America you can be sure, that Hit will be in the driver's seat.

[kim]

Would your cabinets of Belgians be Fortress America?
================================

[matt]

the first item on the agenda of a Mccain administration will be to overturn the takeover of Budweiser by the Belgians. We will then declare war on Belgium and demand they immediately cease brewing beers of mass destruction....

[Karl]

Life imitates AoSHQ.

[JM Hanes]

kim:
"Who called him an Agnew?" Joe Biden as Spiro Agnew?

Sara:
"I shudder to think how naive (and pliable) I was back then."

LOL. Wish I could say "back then." My daughter and I were driving to an event in Wash. DC one evening, not realizing there were apparently different sets of numbered streets. We ended up in a pleasant little neighborhood, where I slowed to ask for directions from a couple of pedestrians. It was my daughter who said, with some exasperation, "Mom! They're doing a drug deal."

[MikeS]

...spinmeisters pretending that the issue was O knowing an unnamed domestic thug thirty years ago.

The counter spin is to ask if Obama condones Ayres recent unrepentant remarks about his criminal history, and standing on Old Glory.

[Captain Hate]

We will then declare war on Belgium and demand they immediately cease brewing beers of mass destruction....

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[pagar]

"It's no joke that the American public is struggling and angry about these last 8 years."

One of the main reasons Americans are struggling and angry about these last 8 years is because the political leadership of one of the two major political parties in America cares a whole lot more about the enemy America is fighting than they do about the Americans who are dying to keep this land free.

Anyone want to tell America why Sen Rockefeller (the leading Democrat on the Sen Intel Committee)had an Obligation to fly to Syria and give them the latest American intel updates in Jan 2002?
"SEN. ROCKEFELLER: No. The – I mean, this question is asked a thousand times and I'll be happy to answer it a thousand times. I took a trip by myself in January of 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq."

LUN=Link under name

Why do we have American Senators standing in the Senate saying "America can not Win"? If America can not win with the Senators we have, we need new Senators. The situation is so bad that the Democrat leadership threw one of their senior Senators out of the party: his crime? Sen Lieberman believed America could win. Throw the "We cannot Win Party out and get Senators in there who believe We can Win.

For years, we've had a major political party in America, saying you can't drill in America or in American controlled water.
Why is that? Can anyone explain the logical of not allowing Americans to be able to drill in America? Can anyone explain why we have no new nuclear Power Plants? Can anyone explain the logic of returning the "No Drilling in America" and the No new nuclear power plants in America party
to leadership in the House? Those are the people who are making Americans struggle and angry. Throw the bums out, and make them take their staff with them. Elect Americans who believe in America and make them hire staff who believe in America.

[Rick Ballard]

"...spinmeisters pretending that the issue was O knowing an unnamed domestic thug thirty years ago."

Boy. Talk about a lack of mastery of the time line.

Thirty years ago Obama was being mentored by a kid raping commie.

Twenty years ago he was very involved with the heavily communist influenced Alinskite group ACORN.

Fifteen years ago he teamed up with a terrorist and a different commie to steal money from Chicago's children in order to support more dud commie groups attempts to "organize" neighborhoods into communist cells.

Ten years ago he was taking money from Chicago slumlord Tony Rezko (an association that continued until Uncle Tony became a guest of the Federal Govenment). Along the way, he purchased Chateau Rezko, with a little help from his friend.

Five years ago he was the abortionist's champion - firmly taking their side against any baby who managed to survive their ministrations. Although not a baby killer himself, he's certainly a close ally of baby killers.

Which closes the circle with his kid raping mentor.

OTOH - there's Cindy McCain, who may have publicly used Saint Teresa as her rationale for adopting a baby with a severe health problem rather than accepting total responsibility for her own actions. And is rich.

[JM Hanes]

Cecil:

And the apparent desire amongst many to punish the Taliban for 9/11--and spend all available US military resources in a fruitless search of Afghan mountain ranges--makes no sense as a national security strategy.

Yes! The idea that "Mission Accomplished," consists of bringing bin Laden to justice is just astonishing, and McCain's "Gates of Hell," remark isn't helping, whether or not it's a sop. Even if al Qaeda in Afghanistan were a discrete threat, our initial invasion quickly dispersed them to other loci in the larger network of terrorist groups. We didn't just chase them all into the mountains and Pakistan.

The conflation of al Qaeda and the Taliban has mistakenly driven the policy prescriptions of people who should know better as well as the general public. IMO, securing gains in Afghanistan is a much higher priority than picking off individuals, although that exercise is not unimportant. Even bin Laden can be replaced, and considering evidence across the board, that appears to have been an operational fait accompli for a good long time now.

[MikeS]

"It's no joke that the American public is struggling and angry about these last 8 years."

Me too! In fact I'm super ticked off about the direction the country has been heading. There's too damn much political correctness, too damn much judicial activism, too damn much journalistic advocacy, too damn much central planning, too damn many taxes and regulations, and on an on. How the hell can it be that we are embargoing our OWN oil reserves? What kind of lunacy is that? We need to change the direction that the country is heading!

[kim]

That was a pretty good 3:00 AM call, jmh.
==========================

[clarice]

Very good, Ricardo..

The guy can sure pick his friends and colleasgues, can't he?

[M. Simon]

anduril,

I like having you around. You are one of our better contrarians. That other one is a waste of bandwidth.

Georgia was strictly a business deal. A move to prop up its oil business and see that its customers had fewer alternatives.

[M. Simon]

Rather than expanding NATO to the very gates of St. Petersburg or, virtually, Moscow and Volgograd, we need to review the concept of buffer states--not just militarily but also from a civilizational standpoint as mediators between Russia and the West. Armenia has reconciled itself to that, to its own advantage. There is no reason that countries like Georgia should not.

Georgia doesn't want to be buffered. It doesn't want to be dominated. The American model is better. Common interests and other wise go your own way. We come when asked and leave when asked. It builds trust.

We don't encourage the cossack hordes in our wake. If they show up we put them down as best as we can.

[bgates]

Rick, thanks for keeping Foo Bar happy by acknowledging that while Obama grant recipient Mike Klonsky was a communist dedicated to the overthrow of the American government, he was not involved in terrorist attacks intended to overthrow the American government like Obama's close associate Bill Ayers.

[Walter]

"...a functional 21st century state that actually produces something other people want..."

Hmm. Some would say that the "18th century drug mafia thugocracy" produced something people all over the world are eager to buy.

But that would be wrong.

[Nenicho]

We need a good political leader and communicator. Unfortunately we don't have one. That is one reason I lurk around here. I want to know that there are people of quality who can maybe persuade the Conservatives in Congress to start thinking and behave as though they love our country.

[Larry]

Sorry to harp on this point, but the Annenberg Challenge offer was, "If you raise $100m, we'll give you $50m or 2 (Chi) to 1 (Ann)on any lesser amount." They don't say, "Oh well, $60m is a good try,here's the whole $50m." $60m qualified them for only $30m matching funds. Come to think of it, not raising the whole $100m was also a failure on CAC's part.

[clarice]

Well, it is confusing. Diamond says that even though CAC raised only $60m (instead of $100m) they apparently got the entire $50 m from Annenberg for a total of $110m.
Bab pointed to some details of the final report which seem to indicate that all told CAC blew thru $160m.

As a matter of prudence and considering that Diamond has been most closely covering this I went with Diamond's $110 m.

[clarice]

**bad, not Bab***

[Buce]

Hey Now. Am I missing something or is the white guy in the bus in back of the black guy?

[anduril]

Well, excellent. Progress. We seem to be having something like an exchange of ideas. And Cecil and I even agree on something, or at least I'll say that we have a similar approach to the Afghan question.

My criticism of the surge, which I've expressed previously, is not the same as Jenkins'. (As I indicated, I'm very skeptical of his secular views in general--which to me are quite shallow--and I didn't bother to quote his actual views on the Surge. Thus my caveat at the end of my post.) I've never doubted the American military's ability to suppress the Iraqi factional militias if it threw enough resources at them. Iraq, as a military environment, is ultimately a helluva lot more manageable than is Afghanistan. I'm looking down the road. I saw an article just recently that the Iraqi army wants to disarm the Sunni militias--the ones that we've armed and to some extent trained. Color me skeptical. Once we pull out, I expect to see a scramble among the various players to reach the top of the heap. No more than is to be expected within a basically tribal society. Nor, if that occurs as I expect, does it necessarily mean that our years of engagement there will have been all for naught. It'll just be Iraq returning to something like a state of nature, but hopefully with American input. My point is that the surge needs to be seen without that longer term perspective, so that we don't mistake it for an all purpose solution for all situations, like Afghanistan: more force. The surge "worked" for indigenous Iraqi reasons, and while some of the lessons learned may be transferable, by no means all are.

With regard to Cecil's position on Afghanistan:

And the apparent desire amongst many to punish the Taliban for 9/11--and spend all available US military resources in a fruitless search of Afghan mountain ranges--makes no sense as a national security strategy. As difficult as it may be, an approach that includes diplomacy, a cooperative defensive framework, and treaties and agreements is necessary . . . and it must be an all-fronts effort.

that's precisely why I decided to link the Tracinski article. As I said, taken in itself it's hare brained, since it does really consider the ramifications of what he proposes. To make such a strategy work--or rather, to utilize some of his ideas as part of an overall strategy--would require what Cecil suggests: "an approach that includes diplomacy, a cooperative defensive framework, and treaties and agreements."

The question is: who will be the other parties? Who will be our partners in "diplomacy, ... cooperative defensive framework, and treaties and agreements." I suggest that we should be exploring involvement on the part of Russia and Iran. Russia, because of their centuries long political and military involvement in the region and Iran because of its millenia long cultural, religious and political involvement. For starters, by far the majority of Afghans (as well as the inhabitants of Pakistan's NW Frontier) speak Iranian languages that are to a great degree mutually comprehensible with standard Persian/Farsi (the same is true of Central Asian Turks and our NATO Turks in Turkey). It would appear to me to be foolhardy to think we can ignore players who have been and still are and will continue to be so intimately involved in the region. This is part of why I think our Russian policy has been so misguided since 1992. We don't particularly need Russia in Europe, but we sure do in other areas.

Obviously this is where I disagree with the CW. But before everyone reaches for their keyboards, bear in mind that both Russia and Iran were extremely cooperative in assisting us at the start of our excellent Afghan adventure. That alone should give anyone pause to consider whether Russia, for example, is truly desirous of "instability" on its southern borders. I say that Russia doesn't have a death wish, and "instability" on its southern borders would jeopardize the oil resources they hope to control. In particular, the notion that Russia wants to see chaos in Central Asia (including Afghanistan) but a powerful, well armed, nuclear capable Iran that would compete for influence with Russia in precisely those regions is, to my way of thinking, an extremely dubious proposition. Therefore, I believe there may well be a commonality off interest among the US, Russia and Iran in Central Asia and Afghanistan. India also shares some of those interests. Some of the interests among these nations conflict, but are probably manageable.

Well, on to see what the Colin Powell thread is about. VP? Sounds intriguing from a foreign policy standpoint. I suspect I'd disagree with him on many things.