A reader requested a photoshop along these lines. He asked for one that referenced the I'm a Mac/I'm a PC thing, but I couldn't see how to do that in a single p-shop so I just asked Slublog to go with Spartacus:

Cute, huh? Well, it turns out the knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing, soup-slurping submoronic "grassroots" that Chris Buckley, Peggy Noonan, and friends have such disdain for are actually staging their own rather witty Spartacus reenactments:

In fairness, they probably got that idea from "the elites" without whom they'd be utterly unable to tie their shoes or tell time.

Awesome Video Rant by "Grassroots" Submoron: Just anecdotal evidence. But there might be some resonance here.

This guy seems blue collar, like that imbecile Joe the Plumber, so I assume "elites" were around to explain to his ig'rant ass how to turn on the picture-gizmo, and how to move his face-hole to make word-sounds come out, and how to refrain from fun-touching his daddy-stick for a full five minutes.

Another Pic & McCain Defends Joe: Detail they could have omitted: When they bend over, they display their plumber's half-moon.

Guys: You don't have to get that far into character.

Thanks to CJ for that.

Posted by: Ace at 10:49 AM | Comments (117)
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And now they are handing things over to the Iraqis and packing up to leave.

In the last 10 months the Marines in Fallujah have done what was unthinkable before the surge began — they have quietly transferred out of one of Anbar province's largest cities. FOX News has learned in an exclusive interview with Kelly from Fallujah that 80 percent of the move is complete. In February there were 8,000 Marines living at Fallujah base. Now there are about 3,000 left. By Nov. 14 there will be none.

"We will shut down the command function here and I will move; my staff has already started to move," Kelly, the commander of Multinational Force-West, told FOX News in an exclusive interview via satellite. "We will turn the lights off here."

“Oh sure we always knew we’d win militarily”, the Democrats will say (with a mostly straight face), “but what about political reconciliation? Huh, what about that?” We’ll the Marines have seen that too.

But perhaps the biggest sign that the situation has changed for the better for Sunnis living in Anbar: With the help of the Marines and the Iraqi police, nearly 100 percent of the eligible voting population were registered a month ago to vote in upcoming provincial elections.

"They seem to add another political party every day," Kelly said. "We didn't have a single security violation of any kind. They're at least going to give the electoral process a shot Â… at least going to give democracy a chance."

The Sunnis, who fueled a large part of Iraq's insurgency, boycotted the last election for Parliament with only 3 percent of Sunnis participating. Now they feel they have a stake in the government.

While we celebrate this victory (yes, thatÂ’s what it is) we should never forget all the good men and women, both American and Iraqi, who sacrificed to make it possible. Too many of them didnÂ’t live to see this but it is their legacy.

So now that the Marines are wrapping their time in Iraq, what do they plan on next? A vacation? A little time at the beach? Nah, they are going to reload, retrain and bring their own special brand of diplomacy to Afghanistan.

h/t Blackfive

Posted by: DrewM at 10:44 AM | Comments (21)
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Eventually, someone was going to get around to covering this angle. Why not me?

I'll get 'ya started:

1. Extensive DNA analysis has determined that Joe the Plumber is Trig Palin's birthmother.

2. Joe the Plumber personally handloaded the shotgun shells Dick Cheney used to blast his Texas hunting companion in the face. The shells were loaded with #6 lead shot and virulent racial hate, but mostly #6 lead shot. (AoSHQ co-blogger rule #73.b.2 - "In the event that a co-blogger cannot work "The Warriors", references to the Paul Anka mythos, or "Tuff Turf" content into a post, they are required to use a minimum of one 'X and Y, but mostly X' joke into said post.")

3. In October of 1980, Joe the Plumber boarded a top secret SR71 Blackbird flight from a secret private airstrip in SW Maine in order to travel to Tehran. His mission? Loosen up a really vicious hairball in the pipes at Ayatollah Khomeni's private guesthouse in Zabol and finalize negotiations for the Iranian Embassy hostages to be held until AFTER Ronald Reagan was sworn in the next January.

4. Joe the Plumber's real first name is Samuel. What most people DON'T know about him, is that he has more than one middle name. His full name is actually Samuel Joseph Elian Gonzales Wurzelbacher. Obviously, this means the man is a RethugliKKKan plant.

OK, Morons. Have at it.

Posted by: Russ from Winterset at 09:38 AM | Comments (180)
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[Updated with Palin appearances scheduled for Monday - below the fold]

Thanks to Ace for letting me hijack the Open Blog again.

I know many of you morons are from Colorado, which is once again a battleground state. The last Rasmussen poll showed Obama up by six here, and the ">Definition of Personhood Initiative is likely to bring an even heavier turnout on both sides.

The McCain-Palin campaign is asking for phone bank volunteers for their Super Saturday push. The phone bank push is happening at all the McCain-Palin campaign offices in Colorado (and I believe nationwide, so if you're not from Colorado contact your local office). Jack DuBois of the Centennial office says that the main push will be from the Centennial phone bank, and they are planning McCain-Palin merchandise giveaways and are giving away VIP tickets to upcoming Palin events. Sarah Palin will be back in Colorado on Monday, with appearances currently scheduled for Colorado Springs and Loveland. Tickets for these appearances are also available at the Centennial office. more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:55 AM | Comments (10)
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It's FiAF* across this great land, and thus my opportunity to remind those of you who need em some reminding to get your picks in. Vote early and vote often. Remember if you don't think too good, don't think too long.

Post reformatted per the new guidelines.

(thanks for the assist Slubs)

* FuckitAllFriday.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:51 AM | Comments (6)
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Dear Mrs. Noonan,

Once, you were a revolutionary.

You were a footsoldier in the "Reagan Revolution"; a speechwriter who augmented the Gipper's own formidable communication skills with your own ability to construct a well crafted phrase. When Pres. Reagan spoke of the Challenger crew having "slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God" it was perhaps your finest moment. It showed that you had a feel for the pulse of the nation, and that you could, in but a phrase, employ the power of words to heal and inspire a grieving nation. That sense of moment was perhaps your most important gift.

1986, when you wrote those words, doesn't seem so long ago, does it? And yet, 22 years in politics is a long time. The revolution has advanced. Many of our fellow revolutionaries, lacking the ability to "sense the moment" within the conservative movement, have been, or are in the process of being, left behind.

Today you write about Governor Palin:

This is not a leader, this is a follower, and she follows what she imagines is the base, which is in fact a vast and broken-hearted thing whose pain she cannot, actually, imagine. She could reinspire and reinspirit; she chooses merely to excite. She doesn't seem to understand the implications of her own thoughts.

How ironic that today, these words could just as easily apply to you.

Mrs. Noonan, you are no longer a leader. Once, perhaps, you were. But now you are not only a follower, but a follower of the worst kind. As a conservative you should be aware of the unique pain suffered by conservatives: our "leaders" often seem to "grow" in office. They tend to adopt positions to align themselves over time with the political left.

That's one of the reasons the base is a "vast and broken hearted thing"; whenever something or someone we can celebrate happens to it, there is no shortage of "conservative intelligentsia" who can be counted on to suddenly "grow" in their thinking. The pain comes not from any disappointment in the selection of or performance of Gov. Palin, but from the fact that all too often conservatives are left to feel betrayed by the very people who have made their fortunes by proclaiming themselves to be our spokesmen.

With your column, you too, could have chosen to "reinspire" or "reinspirit". It is you who seems not to "understand the implications of her own thoughts."

Once you were a revolutionary. And that revolutionary would have been floored by the crowds that Gov. Palin is drawing. Last night she drew 7000 people to a rally in Salem New Hampshire (population 29,000). It was heralded as the largest political event, for a Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidate, in Southern New Hampshire's history.

That revolutionary would have been impressed by similar stories of recent overflow crowds in Maine, Virginia, Wisconsin and Florida. Crowds not just of GOP partisans, but of regular Americans from all walks of life and political leanings.

That revolutionary would have been touched by the inspirational stories of the legions of Mom's with children at the rallies, all identifying with the words Gov. Palin uses, her lifestory, and the common-sense conservatism she offers. There was a time when "soccer moms" were the rage, after all. We have a "hockey mom" who pulls them in by the busload, and suddenly, you disapprove.

The revolutionary you once were, would also have made a special note of the sudden emergence of a new kind of attendee at these rallies. The parents of children with special needs see in Gov. Palin an inspiration, a champion, and a leader. They also see someone who is ardently pro-life. It's funny how you, a self-professed member of the pro-life movement, could overlook this fact. I guess it doesn't fit with your narrative.

Apparently the people attending these rallies are reacting to something about Gov. Palin. Something that you either do not understand, or are willfully blinding yourself from seeing. There was a time when the Reagan Revolutionaries used to understand the importance of talking directly to the American people and bypassing the filters of the mainstream media. But that was then. Apparently those rules don't apply for Governor Palin.

Or, perhaps, like many a faded revolutionary, you have simply lost your sense of the moment.

Once, Mrs. Noonan, you were a revolutionary. You would have understood and celebrated the Palin phenomena. You would have lauded the good it has done for our party.

It appears that those days are gone.

Once you were a revolutionary.

Now you're just revolting.

I understand that you have a book coming out soon. I'm sure today's column will grant you all the attention you could have hoped for.

Very truly yours,

Jack M.

Posted by: Jack M. at 07:56 AM | Comments (236)
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Just coming in now.

The Supreme Court is siding with Ohio's top elections official in a dispute with the state Republican Party over voter registrations.

The justices on Friday overruled a federal appeals court that had ordered Ohio's top elections official to do more to help counties verify voter eligibility.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, faced a deadline of Friday to set up a system to provide local officials with names of newly registered voters whose driver's license numbers or Social Security numbers on voter registration forms don't match records in other government databases.

Ohio Republicans contended the information for counties would help prevent fraud. Brunner said the GOP is trying to disenfranchise voters.

Stand by for more.

SCOTUS Blog has more. It looks to my non lawyer mind that the Ohio GOP lacks standing to ask for the TRO.

We express no opinion on the question whether
HAVA is being properly implemented. Respondents,
however, are not sufficiently likely to prevail on the
ques-tion whether Congress has authorized the District Court
to enforce Section 303 in an action brought by a private
litigant to justify the issuance of a TRO.

...We therefore grant the application for a stay and vacate the TRO.

The decision was reached by the full court (Per Curiam, learn a little Latin here at the HQ) and not just by Stevens, who is the Justice responsible for the 6th Circuit.

UPDATE: Commenters are wondering about the standing issue. Here's what the law, The Help America Vote Act, says about enforcement.

SEC. 401. ACTIONS BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.

The Attorney General may bring a civil action against any State or
jurisdiction in an appropriate United States District Court for such
declaratory and injunctive relief (including a temporary restraining
order, a permanent or temporary injunction, or other order) as may be
necessary to carry out the uniform and nondiscriminatory election
technology and administration requirements under sections 301, 302, and
303.

Below the fold is some of the original post that I moved just to make it more manageable in size. more...

Posted by: DrewM at 09:19 AM | Comments (202)
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After reading today's Peggy Noonan and Kathleen Parker columns, I thought about writing a post on the interesting revolution of the conservative base against those who presume to speak for us in national publications.

Then I found this post by Tacitus in Hot Air's headlines. I encourage you to read the whole thing - it's a work of righteously angry beauty. Here's a taste:

The problem of you and the rest of the intelligentsia on the conservative side of the aisle is that most of you are profusely embarrassed by the stylistic, not substantive, failings of your candidates. To make matters worse for your readers, there happens to be a candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket who has the opposite problem (lots of style, little substance), one which was widely recognized by yourselves and your readers prior to McCainÂ’s financial crisis poll-slide and PalinÂ’s Katie Couric interviews. You mull it over and decide that the Democratic candidate is the better choice, not for your historical ideological alignment but because heÂ’s the more intellectually defensible choice when it comes to your profession. YouÂ’ve made a choice that will make it easier for you to maintain your credibility as thought leaders and journalists. There is no nobler choice for supporting a particular candidate than self-preservation.

Posted by: Slublog at 06:54 AM | Comments (121)
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Friday? Already?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:28 AM | Comments (51)
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Press release from the New Mexico GOP:

Fraudulent Votes Cast in New Mexico

ObamaÂ’s ACORN Must Be Shut Down Before Election, All Activities Investigated

(Albuquerque, NM) – Public records released in New Mexico today confirm that fraudulent voter registrations are in fact turning into fraudulent votes. ACORN, currently under investigation by the FBI, is now confirmed to be responsible for producing fraudulent voter registrations and illegal votes in New Mexico. An inspection of public records has revealed that illegal votes were cast in New Mexico’s 2008 primary election.

“This is a bombshell. We now have undeniable proof that a significant number of fraudulent voters were cast in Democrat primary races for the New Mexico state legislature as a result of ACORN’s voter registration fraud,” remarked State Representative Justine Fox Young (R-Albuquerque). “No longer can ACORN argue that their phony voter registration forms don’t translate into fraudulent votes. They do and today we can prove it.”

...

“It is safe to say that the number of illegal votes being cast dwarfs the 366 votes that decided the 2000 Presidential election in New Mexico,” said Nina Martinez, Secretary for the Republican Party of New Mexico. “Barack Obama contributed $832,000 to ACORN, organized an ACORN subsidiary, represented them as their attorney, trained some of their members and received ACORN’s endorsement. Obama should withdraw his financial support from ACORN and come clean about what he knows of their activities. Every fraudulent vote cancels out an honest vote. We must ensure the integrity of this year’s election.”

But is anyone stupid enough to believe Obama's paid-off Chicago Machine vote fraud outfit was submitting fraudulent votes in a legislative primary, but not on behalf of their own boy?

Apart from the Obamamedia, I mean.

Based upon this thin record, can we start throwing around willy-nilly wild accusations that Obama stole the primary from Hillary?

Yes we can.

No one commits voter fraud to pad a margin of victory.

Goofy Post History: more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:38 AM | Comments (134)
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