New McCain Ad: A Quick Rebuttal

I've been all over the map lately, but I will quickly post this: The new McCain ad makes note of the fact that he was tortured while held as a POW in North Vietnam. So, either Obama or the DNC should run a response ad asking the following question:

"Why does John McCain think it's acceptable for American soldiers and intelligence officers to use the same methods on captives that he found so repugnant when used on him by his captors in North Vietnam?"

Yeah, I want to see that commercial.

Et Tu, Matt Lauer?

Watching the Today Show, Lauer just said "Obama" when referring to Osama bin Laden. Fortunately, he caught himself and corrected it. I don't ascribe a malicious intent to it, but you certainly wonder what sort of cumulative effect mistakes (or not exactly mistakes on Fox News) have on the average voter.

If you're Barack Obama right now, the election can't get here soon enough.

Obama Smear Emailer Pwned

When someone takes the time to reply to the email, the response is even more bizarre than you'd think. Reprinted in full:

it is in the american constitution, that says i can say what i want! i am not making a factual statement, i am stating how i feel, and first off, who are you anyway? i dont want a president obama, ok,, i have nothing against black americans. i have never reffered to him as black anyway. i didnt want hillary either ok, and from what i can tell she is a white american woman. president barack, just doesnt sound right to me, and you will see that my fellow americans feel the same way, ok. you want a wager on the election let me know. state all the silly facts you want, the breadbasket of america, doesnt want president obama bin laden leading the country. so know you know how i feel about the whole thing. thank you

an american patriot.

ps. 911 would never have happened in hilters’ country. now you are going to cry about that also right, don’t get me wrong hitler did a few things the wrong way.. ok. i understand that, but he was a creation of the brainwashing forced on to him. 911 was the worst day in my life, i dated someone who was in the building, and i lost a cousin that day, so dont try to tell me about a president obama!

Well, aside from this person's obvious aversion to capitalization, misuse of commas, and misspelling of Hitler, I think we can safely say that, whatever else he or she may be, he or she is an idiot. "President Barack just doesn't sound right to me." I think a lot of people on the right feel that way, but who would dare say it? Alas, this dimwitted shadow emailer has gone there. Way to really raise the level of debate.

H/T: Sullivan.

I'm Back!

And annoyed (nothing new there).

This time, it's Jesse Ventura pontificating on the Tonight Show. Yeah, the C-list movie star cum Governor of Minnesota (can anyone name anything he did while running that state?) lecturing everyone on how both parties are ruining America. Actually, I'll even defend the Republicans here and say one president is really putting the screws to the old girl, and thankfully that'll stop no matter who is elected in November. Of course, I'd prefer Obama be victorious, but I think throwing Bush out of office will be a step in the right direction regardless of who wins. So, Jesse, please stop your bloviating (and subtle hinting that Nader or someone like him is the right choice in November).

Again, my apologies for the absence.

Obamacons

I'm busy this morning, but Sullivan directs my attention to Bruce Bartlett on why some conservatives favor Obama.

Definitely worth a read.

Sullivan and Ambinder, Re: Obama

Two heavy-hitting bloggers consider the election in a historical perspective. Fascinating.

Clinton Armaggedon Watch

Sullivan rounds up more blogosphere reaction.


Noam Schreiber at the New Republic unloads:

So she's going to leave it to her voters to decide whether she should accept defeat after having, you know, lost? What if every losing candidate left it to their supporters to decide whether or not to accept the outcome of a race? Who would ever accept defeat?

What good could possibly come of this? With Hillary proclaiming herself the legitimate winner, they're clearly going to say "keep going." If she actually does keep going, that's a disaster for the Democratic Party. And if she doesn't, you've just drawn a ton of attention to the fact that a large chunk of the party doesn't accept Obama as the legimiate nominee. No, worse: you've encouraged them to think that, then drawn attention to it.

What a disaster.

A very salient point. Also, if you look at the form to tell her what she should do, the e-mail form starts "I'm with you Hillary, and I am proud of everything we are fighting for." So I'm guessing they'll just count the number of e-mails without reading them and say that number of people want her to stay in. Maybe Al Gore could have done this after Florida in 2000. Heck, why not have an online poll to ask if she should bypass the election altogether and just foment a coup d'etat? That's ultimately where her logic leads. If you lose an election, just ask your supporters what you should do.

Jon Chait, also at TNR, also can't believe his ears:

Incredible. She justifies her continuing the campaign by saying that she finished the campaign. She doesn't concede that Obama has a majority of delegates, let alone that he's won. She repeats her bogus popular vote argument. She congratulates Obama's campaign on its "achievements," but barely musters a single good word about him.

I don't know what the fallout will be, but at minimum, I'd say that anybody on her staff who cares about their party has a moral obligation to publicly quit and endorse Obama.

Like that'll ever happen. I think if Wolfson, McAuliffe, or Ickes even tried to resign, their heads would explode.

Maureen Dowd is also aghast:

Whoever said that after denial comes acceptance hadn’t met the Clintons.

If Hillary could not have an acceptance speech, she wasn’t going to have acceptance.

“It’s never going to end,” sighed one Democrat who has been advising Hillary. “We’re just moving to a new phase.”

Nice job uniting the party, Hillary.

UPDATE: Dahlia Lithwick thinks Hillary's supporters were wound up enough to resort to arson.

Clinton Won't Go Away

Sullivan nails it. Hillary's speech was atrocious, and an ignominious way to end a campaign.

Obama, meanwhile, managed to rise above. I'm impressed at how composed he's been, despite Hillary now ganging up on him with McCain and grinning broadly while her supporters threaten Armageddon by chanting "Denver! Denver!" Does she not understand where this leads, or does she not care?

I'm leaning more and more toward the second.

Also, McCain smirked and snickered a lot in his speech while launching not very creative attacks on Obama. Personally, and unsurprisingly, I like Obama's "that's not change" line better than McCain's "that's not change we can believe in" followed by a huge grin and a snicker. Heck, all parts of the blogosphere (compiled here) have panned it. Read here for Sullivan's thoughts on Obama's speech. I certainly agree that he is rhetorically miles ahead of McCain. I'd hunt for more opinion, but I'm too busy talking to friends.

AP: Obama Secures Nomination

Hot off the presses at MSNBC, Obama will have enough delegates tonight, and sources say Hillary Clinton will "acknowledge" it.

Nice careful avoiding of the word "concede" by the Clintonites.

UPDATE: First Read insists that Hillary will not be dropping out, and also has sources saying she's interested in being Obama's running mate. I'm hoping he stands his ground. Almost anything else she wants, fine, but not the Vice Presidency.

Especially hilarious is this quote from Charlie Rangel:

On the subject of Clinton and the vice presidency, Rangel told NBC that "certainly to the extent that she will do anything to win ... she'll be available"

Yes, Charlie. We know she'll do anything to win. Anything, up to and including race- and gender-baiting, questioning Obama's qualification, bringing up the specter of RFK's assassination, breaking the rules in Florida and Michigan and than playing the victim when the DNC did not allow her a Saddam Hussein-esque 100%-0% delegate haul in Michigan, encouraging unruly protesters to attend the meeting this weekend and, in so doing, embarrass the party (something I hope the DNC does not soon forget), using a former president who happens to be her husband to compare Obama to Jesse Jackson and claim that the media is baised, crying crocodile tears in New Hampshire for sympathy, and on and on.

And yet she still didn't win.

McAuliffe: Clinton Will Concede When Obama Hits 2118

TPM has it here, MSNBC here.

It looks like she'll keep her campaign running only long enough to negotiate some sort of surrender to get something she wants. Hopefully the "something she wants" isn't the vice presidency, because I loathe the idea of Obama having to put up with both Clintons and the shenanigans which would surely follow. Secretary of HHS (if the rumors are true) would be okay in my book. She might also ask for some sort of rules change in the future, the way Jesse Jackson asked for and got (with far fewer delegates) the current proportional distribution system. She certainly has chips to play with, and Obama has a huge incentive to give her whatever it is she wants and calm down her more obnoxious supporters (like this lady - although I doubt Obama will ever get her vote given the racism expressed - and I also like how she said she wass protesting her vote not being counted when she's from, wait for it, New York City). I just hope he has the guts to say, politely, "no" to a request to be his running mate.

The insanity may just be nearly over.

UPDATE: Raider99 at TPMCafe posted this plea for Hillary to bring her supporters like the woman mentioned above back to earth. It's worth the read.

UPDATE 2: TPM also brings word that Obama will be hosting a fundraiser for the DNC's White House Victory fund tomorrow. Another nail in the Clinton coffin, methinks.

UPDATE 3: Via TMP, Camp Clinton says that McAuliffe's statement doesn't mean she'll concede tonight. So either they're having some serious problems over there (as this Politico post suggests) or they're convinced that Obama will not get the necessary number of delegates by tonight. Hmm.

UPDATE 4: A reader of Sullivan's blog makes a couple of interesting analogies regarding the psychology (and pathology) of the Clinton campaign. Readers be warned, the post contains naughty language.

Clinton Quitting Tomorrow?

It seems to much to hope, but the signs appear to be gathering. Between Bill's "last day" remark and the news that her speech will be in New York tomorrow night, I'd say there's a decent chance it's going to happen. Also, the news that Obama has a number of supers coming out tomorrow, including Jim Clyburn, virtually guarantees that Obama will have the necessary 2118 delegates by tomorrow night or Wednesday at the latest.

Still, I don't dare say Hillary will see the writing on the wall.

Hillary as Secretary of HHS?

The British Telegraph has sources saying she's going to be offered HHS and the chance to screw up on health care again in exchange for getting out of the race.

Obviously, I don't care for her working on health care again, since she's already botched an attempt to fix that system. However, I'd much prefer that she be in the cabinet, rather than the Senate, because at least in the cabinet, she would owe loyalty to a President Obama, and he would be in a position to fire her or demand her resignation if she were to step out of line. Moreover, there is basically no role for the spouse of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, meaning Bill should (though I'm not stupid enough to believe for a second that he will) keep his mouth shut.

Also, I'm glad that it appears she won't be offered a spot in the Big Three (that'd be State, Defense, and Justice).

Democratic Party Meltdown

Marc Ambinder is live-blogging it. Here are the posts so far: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7.

Just plain depressing. It's taken all day to get an agreement on Florida, which was supposed to be the easier state to resolve. Clinton supporters are reportedly chanting "Denver! Denver!" As in, they will take it all the way to the convention in Denver. There are protesters outside threatening to vote for McCain instead of Obama.

Wait, wait, TMJ just broke in with an announcement that a compromise has been reached on Michigan and Florida. Ambinder confirms in part 7 above. The catch: Clinton is reserving the right to appeal to the credentials committee. She nets a total of 24 delegates. Way to nearly destroy the whole party for two dozen delegates, Hillary. Job well done.

I desperately hope that the Clintons are remembered badly for the damage they have done this year.

UPDATE: Here's some reaction from the typically mature Clintonites:

7:16: Some Clinton supporters begin to shout: "McCain, McCain, McCain.

Wow. Just wow. If Obama supporters talked like this, they'd be accused of treason to the party. Hillary's people do it and no one has the guts to call them on it?

How Now, Brown Cow?

All the Republicans jumping on Obama's "gaffe" of confusing Buchenwald for Auschwitz need to check their own candidate. We've been negotiating with Iran for two decades, according to McCain. Huh? I guess Iran-Contra counts, but I'm not aware of any other negotiations.

Also, given that McCain has previously confused Iraq and Iran, and shown no awareness of the difference between Sunni and Shiite, Republicans really ought not to go ape over Obama's mistake. It wasn't nearly as patently false as Hillary's claim of landing under sniper fire, yet the right chooses this issue to whine about. Sounds like a side that's desperate to me. Considering the presumptive Republican nominee's penchant for misstatement and losing his temper (I can't wait to see him lose it in a debate with Obama), I think they doth protest too much.

The Definitive Answer

...to the question no one can seem to stop asking.

Is Barack Obama muslim?

H/T: Sullivan and Yglesias.

Hillary's Problems

First of all, when you get Olbermann this upset, that's usually a bad sign:



Also, MSNBC runs this article (from the New York Times) about how her return to the Senate could be difficult, given her lack of seniority.

And finally, Andrew Sullivan links to a piece in the LA Times indicating Hillary might have some 'splaining to do to black Democrats in New York City. Here's a hint: Things are bad when people want to demonstrate outside Bill's office in Harlem.

And on a personal note, I desperately hope the reports of Obama rebuffing the Clintons' demand to be offered the second spot on the ticket are true. Bringing her on board does nothing to further his "new kind of politics" message, and would greatly damage his appeal among independents and Republicans.

Finally, on another personal note, I would like to take a moment to explain my continued insistence that Hillary's impending defeat is in no way due to sexism. Just because she has gotten negative coverage doesn't mean there is rampant sexism. It is possible to dislike Hillary personally or as a candidate and not dislike all women. Just ask my wife. The conflation of the two does a great disservice, in my opinion, to the cause of feminism.

Ugh

Geraldine Ferraro is on the Today Show at the moment. I would have thought her tone-deaf remarks earlier in the campaign would have convinced her to, frankly, shut the hell up. Apparently, there's no such luck to be had, as she's busy spouting off about how Obama is winning because the electorate is sexist, and even flat out saying that Obama himself is sexist.

For the last time, just because people aren't voting for your candidate does not mean sexism is at work. I'm truly tired of Hillary supporters constantly saying that she's losing because of sexism. Do they not realize that Hillary went into this race as the favorite? Who's fault is it that she blew her advantages in name recognition, money, staffing, and superdelegates? Maybe people realized that there just wasn't any "there" there. But rather than admit that their candidate has a massive credibility gap, her supporters continue to scream bloody murder about how Obama's being a man counts for more than any of her comparable advantages.

Finally, I'd have had a lot more sympathy for Hillary's claim of being a victim of sexism if she hadn't so readily used her gender itself as a weapon. Remember her crying in New Hampshire? Remember the debate where she said the boys club was ganging up on her? If she thinks she ought to be treated no differently because of her gender, she ought to act like it. If a male candidate started crying like she did, babbling incoherently about his love of country while running for the highest office in the land, people would have legitimate concerns about how he would behave in a crisis. After all, if you can't withstand attacks on the campaign trail without breaking into tears, how would you react when some foreign leader is calling you every name in the book and threatening to go to war? Hillary has claimed to be the victim of sexism after running a campaign where she herself played the gender card at every opportunity. It's a classic case of the tail wagging the dog, and should send a clear signal to future women who might run for the nation's highest office: You cannot have it both ways.

Matthews Smash!

Chris Matthews absolutely mopped the floor with Kevin James last night. That's all there is to say. I mean, if you're going to talk about appeasement, at least know what it was Chamberlain did. Watch and understand:

Dahlia Lithwick Zings Hillary

H/T: Andrew Sullivan.

Here's the page. The title alone, "Feminism Means Never Having to Say 'I'm Toast'" should give you a good idea. As it's short enough, here's the whole text:

Emily asked a good question yesterday about the proper feminist reading of Hillary Clinton’s weird new Bartleby phase—wherein she is all but mathematically eliminated; superdelegates are running screaming for the exits; the office furniture is being carted out onto the moving vans; and yet still she soldiers on, undaunted, because real women “don’t give up in difficult situations.”

I suppose you can call all this “feminism.” But, as my husband pointed out this morning, if the inability to concede error or defeat—even in light of irrefutable, empirical evidence and in the face of spiraling support and tanking morale—is feminism, George Bush must be the feminist icon of the ages.

BURN!

Racism Update

The Secret Service is in on the fun, too, according to e-mails handed over in a racial discrimination lawsuit. Slate's Hot Document series has them here. No, I won't repeat any excerpts here, as I don't wish to dirty my page with them, so you'll have to look yourself.

I should mention that I got a hit yesterday off the search term "half breed muslim," because I quoted an article where someone described Obama in those words. I can't help wondering what that person was searching for.