Small town values

Sábado cinquo

We're entering the home stretch of the 2008 election, so I thought it appropriate we cast our eye back on the last few months years of the primary contest and enumerate our five favorite also-rans - and by favorite I mean the ones we loved-to-love and, more significantly, we loved-to-hate. Here's mine:

5. Mittens - Mostly I miss the hair, but honestly, he was a punching bag par excellence.
4. Mike Gravel - A cranky old man with a sense of humor and the most surreal pr campaign evuh!
3. Huck! - A cuter, cuddlier conservative. The man jammed out the bass to 70's arena rawk tunes and almost made me believe he actually cared for people.
2. Ron Paul - The Ron Paul Blimp was absolute gold. And here's to the Paultards wreaking further havoc on this election.
1. Dennis Kucinich - Nuff said.

Sound off down below.

For My Wife, Because I Love Her

And she's awesome.

Non-Politics-Related Post

But related to the internets, so...

What are you all using for web browsing these days, because the new Firefox is eating memory to the point where I can't listen to Don Johnson on the Napster while trying to soccernet and IM with the wife?

Safari? Explorer? Something so cool no one (me) has ever heard of it?

PS: Now that I am getting my first taste of the musical stylings of Don Johnson in 20 years, it is possible that Firefox was desperately trying to do me a favor.

www.superheroticket.com

Three guesses which superheroes are running for president and vice president.

Did you get them? Be honest.

Well, They Did Move on "Up" Afterall

In case you missed it in all the hubbub last night:

Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term "uppity" to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.

Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.

"Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity," Westmoreland said.

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

Not only is the is this cracker a racist pos, but he doesn't make any fucking sense. Try parsing this: "They're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity." I count at least three grammar errors and one giant failure of logic.

Finally, Someone Willing to Stand Up for the Big Guy

A few quotes in the Register-Guard from a house party to watch the McCain speech (40 people attended. I'd say 30-35 met at the AFL-CIO to go canvassing for Obama last night).

Of all the things she likes about the Republican platform and McCain, Rosemary Nichols said she especially welcomes the feeling that she’s being rewarded for her hard work and prosperity.

“I’m tired of being made to feel guilty for being successful — that’s the American dream,” she said. “We need to get back to being proud to be an American, and proud to be a successful American.”

Then there is Jennifer Gaskill, who hates partisan politics, but loves it when the Republicans really stick it to the Dems.

“I’m so tired of the partisan stuff. He legitimately and honestly wants what’s best for our country and our families,” Gaskill, 39, said. “I’m with him on that.”

After Wednesday’s speech by Palin, McCain did a wonderful job of adding his story to her message, Gaskill said.

“When he got up there tonight, he came off as very presidential,” she said. “She got up there and her speech was basically, ‘Don’t mess with me.’ I think they will complement each other very, very well.”

And then the capper for over-exuberance from Hal Reed, chairman of the Republican Party of Lane County:

Oregon is in play for McCain and Sarah Palin, and I want you to write that down.

Consider it noted, Hal. See you in November.

Heart Does Not Heart McCain-Palin

Since we all do the politique and the musique:

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) — Blasting through the Republican convention hall is the 1977 hit "Barracuda" by rock band Heart.

It's a shout-out to Sarah Palin. When she played basketball in high school, the soon-to-be Republican vice presidential nominee earned the nickname "Sarah barracuda" for her fierce competitiveness.

Some of her opponents revived the "Sarah barracuda" nickname after she became mayor of her hometown, Wasilla, in 1996, defeating a three-term incumbent.

UPDATE: Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart said Thursday night that Universal Music Publishing and Sony BMG have sent a cease and desist notice to the McCain-Palin campaign over their use of 'Barracuda.'

"We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We
hope our wishes will be honored," the group said in a statement that said they "condemn" the use of the song at the Republican convention.

Maverick! open thread

We understand that John McCain is a maverick. And a POW. Just passing that along.

RNC UnderCard Open Thread

Three hours until John's big oratorical whatever, but I can already smell the ether wafting in from the land of Amy Klobuchar (swoon), Bob Mould (une autre swoon) and all.

Mebbe like me you're already staring into the fire? Touching the flame? Tasting the burn? Hearing the yawps?

Quick before plus de RNC

Besides writing a good book that I just slurped like so much fizzy water, Bob Kuttner watches the Palin speech and boils the whole ball game, I believe, down to a single paragraph:

So now we understand what John McCain's handlers were up to: Intensify the culture wars, and once again use cultural symbols as substitutes for policies. In particular, use Hockey Mom Sarah Palin to change the subject from why regular Americans are hurting in the pocketbook to why Palin is a more regular American than Barack Obama. Will the Democrats change it back? Whether they do will decide the election.

Paging Dr. Freud

As both dave and I pointed out recently, the right-wing locker room is standing at full mast over Sarah Palin. And as they do so, they reveal some analytically rich musings:

Palin exudes sexual confidence and maternal authority, which in a relatively conservative culture like ours is the most recognizable and viscerally comprehensible form of female power. It makes a lot of men uncomfortable, but that’s because it’s the kind of female power they are most often subject to, and most often fail to successfully resist. I spent much of my life taking orders from women a lot like Sarah Palin — women like my mother and my Iowa public school teachers.

Ew.

LOLK-Lo

I'm continually stunned that K-Lo has the mental capacity to breath, much less draw a paycheck:

Not Bad to Have in the Background of a Reform Convention [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

Jack Abramoff was just sentenced to four years in prison.

EK re: Cindy

So, it'd seem that the Ezra Klein is hot for a place on my blogroll: yeah, that's gotta be it.

I'm not really sure why Vanity Fair is making such a big deal out of the fact that Cindy McCain's outfit last night cost around $300,000 (yes, you read that right). I mean, sure, that's about 60 times the tax cut McCain is giving families to help them with their yearly health care bills, and sure, that's six times the median household income in the United States. But they're missing the point. The theme of last night's RNC proceedings was "prosperity." Most of us were thus expecting the speakers to talk about prosperity, and confused when none of them mentioned it. But it turned out that we had three-carat proof of prosperity dangling from Cindy McCain's earlobes the whole time. The speakers didn't even need to mention the country's economic condition!

Murphy and Noonan Off Message

Oops.

MCCain campaign has responded with "So what?"

Palin and Sexism

The Daily Show: Boom!

Post-speech thread

Keep going.

Palin, Palin, Palin open thread!

More RNC thread

Because you're chatty.

RNC open thread

Here's tonight's schedule, with the theme being reform ("Washington is broken and the Original Maverick will fix it"). I'm sure that'll work out for them. The fireworks will be in the 10 PM EDT hour when Sarah Palin will attempt to convince us that being a corrupt Alaskan machine politician is actually a good thing.

Bon appetit!