Suspected U.S. Missiles Strike Suspected Militant Hideout
— Dave in Texas

Where it is suspected we blowed up Arab militant target Abu Kasha Iraqi.

Given the track record of success these many months, I suspect they're correct.

Subhed:

Al Qaeda Leader Suffers from Diverticulitis and Death, But Mostly Death

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 03:50 PM | Comments (14)
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General David Petraeus Sworn in as Commander of CENTCOM
— Dave in Texas

Ceremony took place just a little while ago at MacDill AFB.

Gen. Ray Odierno replaced him as Commander of MNF-Iraq.

[Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey] Joking about Petraeus' fame that stems from his success in Iraq, Gates said, "Dave, you probably require less introduction than anyone I know."

Very true, unless he's being introduced at another political bullshit congressional committee hearing.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 09:20 AM | Comments (17)
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McCain Supporter versus Obama Supporter [AndrewsDad]
— Open Blog

Compare Tushar's post featuring a McCain supporter who "kicks ass" versus an Obama supporter who will never again have to worry about putting gas in her car or paying her mortgage. more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 09:08 AM | Comments (46)
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Check out this guy. He kicks butt. [Tushar]
— Open Blog

I don't know if this was posted, but it deserves a repeat.

HT: Instapundit.

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:31 AM | Comments (51)
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Truth, Lies, and Your Brain on Obama [someone]
— Open Blog

Look, at this point I don't know if this is real or fake. It looks to be by the same person who wrote the famous HillBuzz comment Rush read on the air yesterday. But whatever its origin, it's riveting stuff, actually even better than that comment.

First, a little personal backgroundÂ… I am a female grad student in my 20Â’s, and a registered Democrat. During the primaries, I was a campaign worker for the Clinton candidacy. I believed in her and still do, staying all the way to the bitter end. And believe me, it was bitter. [...] As a part of his overall effort to extend an olive branch to the Clinton camp and her supporters, Obama took on a few Hillary staff members into his campaign. I was one such worker.

The post makes a number of interesting points about the campaign (and you should read the whole thing), but the most important comes near the end.

As part of my research duties, I scour right wing blogs and websites to get somewhat of a “feel” as to what is being talked about on the other side. Much of it is nonsense, but there are some exceptions which give the campaign jitters. A spirited campaign has been made to infiltrate many pro-Hillary sites and discredit them. A more disorganized, but genuine effort has also been made to sow doubts among the unapologetically right wing sites such as redstate.com. Don’t you guys get it? This has been the Obama campaign’s sole strategy from the very beginning! The only way he wins is over a dispirited, disorganized, and demobilized opposition. This is how it has been for all of his campaigns. What surprises me is that everyone has fallen for it.

(Emphasis added... For Allahpundit.) Finally, the dots are connected about the polls:

How did we skew these polls, you might ask? It all starts with the media “buzz” which has been generated over the campaign. Many stories are generated on the powerful Obama ground game, and how many new voters were registered. None of this happens by coincidence. It is all part of the poll-skewing process. This makes pollsters change their mixes to reflect these new voters and tilt the mix more towards Democratic voters. What is not mentioned or reported on is not the “under-reported cell phone users or young voters” we hear so much about. What is underreported is you.

Again, whether this is real or hoax, we damn well need to act like it's true (because it is) and get out there.

On a similar theme, HillBuzz reminds us of the psyops Axelrod tried against Hillary in the primaries and has planned for us in the next five days:

(1) Calls for McCain to just give up and quit, because the race is over.
[...]
(2) Wild claims of Obama winning states that shock and surprise you.
[...]
(3) Repeated insistance that blacks and young people will decide this election, and they are all going to vote in record numbers for Obama.

(Note that we've seen the Axelturfers already trying all three.) Read the whole thing: among the stuff I've left out is some pointed discussion of Eeyoreism.

I should mention that I'm glad this site has been one of the few big blogs where Eeyoreism hasn't gotten much of a foothold. Whether honest or not, it's totally counterproductive -- particularly in this home stretch.

Posted by: Open Blog at 07:10 AM | Comments (233)
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Obama Starts Managing Expectations
— Dave in Texas

Actually I think Biden already started this for him with his "mark my words" gaffe. TOL reports Obama's senior advisors drawing up plans to lower expectations for his administration should he win.

One senior adviser told The Times that the first few weeks of the transition, immediately after the election, were critical, “so there’s not a vast mood swing from exhilaration and euphoria to despair”.

The aide said that Mr Obama himself was the first to realise that expectations risked being inflated.

Despair?

Facing possible gains in the House, a filibuster-proof Senate, and a Presidential victory on a sweeping tide of Hope and Change, Barack is now course correcting to "Maybe, We'll See".

Asked about his goals for the first hundred days, he said he would need more time to tackle such big and costly issues as health care reform, global warming and Iraq. “The first hundred days is going to be important, but it’s probably going to be the first thousand days that makes the difference,” he said. He has also been reminding crowds in recent days how “hard” it will be to achieve his goals, and that it will take time.

I've seen this dynamic in action, usually upon the signing of a contract for deliverables.

Of course, by then it's too late.

tip from commenter PISSED in the headline thread, although for the life of me I can't tell what he/she's upset about.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:55 AM | Comments (50)
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Blasphemers Cast out of The One's Presence
— Slublog

Barack Obama's campaign made a few last-minute changes on the campaign plane and oddly enough, all of those left without chairs were from papers that endorsed John McCain.

The Obama campaign has decided to heave out three newspapers from its plane for the final days of its blitz across battleground states -- and all three endorsed Sen. John McCain for president!

The NY POST, WASHINGTON TIMES and DALLAS MORNING NEWS have all been told to move out by Sunday to make room for network bigwigs -- and possibly for the inclusion of reporters from two black magazines, ESSENCE and JET, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

I'm sure it was just a coincidence.

If Obama wins, I'd look to the Washington Times as the paper most likely to produce the next Woodward and Bernstein. (H/t: Hot Air)

Posted by: Slublog at 05:55 AM | Comments (96)
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Top Headline Comments 10-31-08
— Gabriel Malor

Happy Halloween. Anybody dressing up today? I went with the tried and true and professional-appropriate: a Superman t-shirt under my suit. Just hafta unbutton a few buttons and I'm in mid-transformation from my alter-ego, Gabriel Malor, to the Man of Steel. Here's to truth, justice and the American way!

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:27 AM | Comments (51)
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Record snow in Tibet kills 7 people and 144,000 head of livestock
— Purple Avenger

Did Al Gore make a quick trip to Tibet recently?

...The snowstorm left seven people dead, one more missing, alongside the death of 144,400 head of livestock as of Thursday. Most of the human casualties were in Lhunze, Shannan. It also knocked out telecommunications and traffic, and cause power cuts in parts of the plateau region...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 05:06 AM | Comments (23)
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UCLA Economists: FDR's policies prolonged depression by 7 years
— Purple Avenger

I'm told economics is a "science" of sorts, or at least likes to pretend that its not voodoo hackery using goat sacrifices and chicken blood, so science it is I guess.

I'll leave it up to the reader to decide which economic prescriptions track most closely with FDR's, the Messiah's or McCain's.

Two UCLA economists say they have figured out why the Great Depression dragged on for almost 15 years, and they blame a suspect previously thought to be beyond reproach: President Franklin D. Roosevelt...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 04:21 AM | Comments (45)
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