McPain has a 9 point edge on managing the economy -- which is quite a statement in itself, since he's admitted in the past his economic chops are mediocre at best.

...McCain now has a 9-point edge, 49 percent to 40 percent, over Obama on the critical question of who would be the best manager of the economy -- an issue nearly half of voters said was their top concern in the November 4 presidential election.

That margin reversed Obama's 4-point edge last month on the economy over McCain, an Arizona senator and former Vietnam prisoner of war who has admitted a lack of economic expertise and shows far greater interest in foreign and military policy...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 05:43 AM | Comments (62)
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Stumbled across randomly by AQ.

10. I Hate Every Bone In Her Body But Mine

9. I Ain't Never Gone To Bed With an Ugly Woman But I Woke Up With a Few

8. If The Phone Don't Ring, You'll Know It's Me

7. I've Missed You, But My Aim's Improvin'

6. Wouldn't Take Her To A Dogfight 'Cause I'm Scared She'd Win

5. I'm So Miserable Without You It's Like You're Still Here

4. My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend And I Miss Him

3. Dropkick Me Jesus Through The Goal Posts of Life

2. She's Lookin' Better with Every Beer

And the Number One Funniest Country Song is...

1. It's Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chewed My Ass All Day Long

Heh on Number one.

Whoops: It seems they're not all real. In fact, the only one I know is real is one I added to the list (found elsewhere), Dropkick Me Jesus Through the Goalposts of Life.

Oh well. Someone should write "I'm So Miserable Without You It's Like You're Still Here."

Posted by: Ace at 08:35 PM | Comments (90)
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Captain Bullshit!

Read his new "fact check:" He's claiming he supported the federal law (in theory; he didn't have to vote on it) because federal law does not actually have any effect on state abortion law, and opposed the identical state version, because state laws can affect, um, state laws.

So he's a big supporter of the Born Alive Act... so long as it's actually ineffectual and carries no operative power.

Or... something.

So, John McCain should likewise announce his fervent support for a single-payer national healthcare law, so long as that law is passed by, say, the City Council of Oswego, New York, and would therefore have no actual legal weight.

And he, like Obama, should "get credit" for supporting a legislative nullity, while opposing, you know, the real law and stuff.

Obama really does seem to prefer the sort of "lawmaking" which is entirely conducted on the plane of airy generalities, nebulous themes, and empty gestures, doesn't he? When asked to vote on a bona fide law (a law-type law, with actual legal effect, as opposed to the "thinky" sort of thought-experiment virtual "law" Obama prefers) he either courageously votes present or cries that it was unfair to ask him to vote on a law that actually might change the law.

Nuance. Layers. Leadership.

Posted by: Ace at 07:01 PM | Comments (47)
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In the equation which makes up the odious, criminal and murderous Bush regime and its murderous, criminal and odious foreign policy, the constant factor is constituted by a teacher, promoted to positions way above her personal and intellectual station by a gullible fool of a President. This teacher, whose sheer incompetence as National Security Advisor and as Secretary of State is today so blatantly apparent, goes by the name of Condoleeza Rice.

The fact that Rice was National Security Advisor at the time of 9/11 speaks for itself, period.

As Secretary of State, she is supposed to be responsible for her countryÂ’s diplomacy, she is supposed to be WashingtonÂ’s leading diplomat. But can anyone think of a figure less qualified for the post? Starting with the face (set in a constant snarl, with a scar for a mouth, lips pursed back in a sneer, piggy eyes looking as though something evil is lunging behind them), continuing with the body language (aggressive stance, butch, defensive posture as though she is hiding something or afraid) and ending with the discourse (about as diplomatic as a raspberry and a fit of giggling at a funeral ceremony), she cuts a sorry figure.

The constant arrogance and hypocrisy of this failed female makes it that much more apparent that here is a person way out of her depth. Instead of regarding sensitive issues from a balanced viewpoint as she is supposed to do, this incompetent loud-mouthed, bad-mannered, bullshit-mongering bimbo takes one side, ignores the other and then speaks down from a holier-than-thou platform as if she were on a lecture dias.

This is not a classroom, Condoleeza Rice, and you are not a diplomat. You are a liar, a cheap, shallow, failed, wannabe actress on the diplomatic stage. This is the real world and out here, you have to be prepared to face up to your responsibilities.

Oh, I'm sorry, that wasn't Keith Olbermann, that was Pravda.

The difference? Pravda doesn't say "Sir," as "Sir" reinforces class distinctions.

There's not a bit of that whole blame America/blame Georgia schpiel that wasn't previewed in Russia's AAA franchise, the American leftist press.

Isn't it a terribly odd thing that the American left always winds up coincidentally lining up cheek-by-jowl with their Russian friends?

Their ultra right-wing nationalist Russian friends like Vladimir Putin, I should say.

Posted by: Ace at 06:42 PM | Comments (155)
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RCP now has the electoral college at 274-264, McCain.

As far as I can tell, it's just the same map Bush won with in 2004.

To state the obvious, the veep choice for both depends on how much each thinks they need to shake things up.

If one's ahead, one can play it safe with an inoffensive pick that placates the base but doesn't make any serious play for independents.

If one's behind, one probably should risk alienating the base in an effort to grab more swing voters. Chancy, but if you're losing anyway, you might as well gamble that you can both hold the base and build on it. It really doesn't matter if you lose by 3% or 6%, after all. Losing is losing.

McCain's current momentum suggests he should not make any high-risk moves and should just go with someone safe like Portman or Pawlenty or other people I've never heard of whose names begin with a "P." The base is slowly but inexorably coming back to him; he has a decent share of independents and a chance to get more naturally, just through questioning Obama's lack of experience race; so why rock a boat on a safe and steady course?

Obama, however, has had a bruising couple of weeks, and if his cultists' caterwauling is any indication, he's almost panicking. He's not doing especially well with swing voters, and he doesn't have a lock on Democrats' votes, either.

It's Hail Mary time.

So...

Vice President Hilary Rodham Clinton.

Michael Goldfarb Re-Offends: Again, even after his "heartfelt apology," which I am beginning to suspect was less than earnest:

It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman’s memory of war from the comfort of mom’s basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others. John McCain has often said he witnessed a thousand acts of bravery while he was imprisoned, and though not every one has been submitted into the public record, they are remembered by the men who were there (one such only recently reported by Karl Rove though it escaped mention in any of Senator McCain’s books). But as Swindle said, this is a “desperate group of people trying to make something out of nothing.”

Watch that dirty mouth, fella, or I'll kick you right in your dice-pouch.

In all seriousness, 90% of the public doesn't know what he means by Dungeons and Dragons, and of the 10% that do, 5% have played.

I think he'd do better to use my descriptor for such folks -- Internet Detectives -- or something else.

The insult doesn't make complete sense. Fantasy baseball, as they say, is Dungeons & Dragons for people who used to beat up people who played Dungeons & Dragons.

And the Online Church of Obama Christ is just Dungeons & Dragons for people who used to get beaten up by people who played Dungeons & Dragons.

So he's really elevating them, rather than denigrating them.

Hopefully he will offer another apology and I can get some more hits off it.

The LAT Knows Why Obama Lost His Lead! Well, boys, he never had a 12-point lead in the first place, your insistence to the contrary.

But having claimed your silly-shit poll was balls-on accurate, now you have to explain his precipitous fall.

And of course the explanation is obvious.

It's the relentless "onslaught of negative attacks" from John McCain that done it.

Of course, of course.

You guys have a lot of excuses. You know that?

Posted by: Ace at 05:23 PM | Comments (62)
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Original is here. Actually I used GNU Gimp, not Photoshop. Gimp is free and I'm a cheap bastard.

Here's Another One [ace]: Says it all. Or at least 66% of it.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 04:41 PM | Comments (34)
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Update: Replaced one video, which had been yanked.

Better watch them fast, Viacom is yanking them all down, quickly.

...

Overall pretty funny. Here were the standouts.

Moderate to Strong Content Warning on the first two.

Oddly, the last one has no offensive material at all, except for a single improvised (and bleeped) f-word. more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:52 PM | Comments (26)
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Aww, damnit. Not only was Grissom an unconventional, interesting hero, but Laurence Fishburn is from the serious school of acting, by which I mean "seriously boring."

I wonder if his character will be of the "brooding" variety? Fingers crossed!

"Morpheus" was a spot-on character name for him.

Posted by: Ace at 03:06 PM | Comments (30)
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A ten point fall since their last poll, but their last poll was almost certainly bullshit in the first place (it "confirmed" Newsweek's ridiculous 15 point advantage -- but both outfits, having claimed that their polls were dead-on and not outliers or just plain goofs, now have to explain why this "huge lead" has now disappeared).

This is interesting. But note Megan McArdle is getting this from McCain's camp.

I've obviously seen the tightening national polls, and what I'm starting to hear is that among likelies and battlegrounds, McCain's gaining a commanding lead. Since I'm hearing that from McCain supporters, however, I've been a little sceptical. Less so after this weekend.

The lead can't be "commanding" or we'd at least see a hint of it in public polls. But it might be there, in a non-commanding fashion.

Posted by: Ace at 02:19 PM | Comments (33)
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Tremayne "X-tra Crisp-E" Durham:
An appetite for self-destruction.

Before you laugh, note that I said "buckets," not a bucket. He's not a fool or anything.

Durham was sentenced Wednesday to life behind bars with a chance for parole in 30 years after pleading guilty last month to aggravated murder for Adam CalbreathÂ’s brutal slaying.

Multnomah County, Ore., Judge Eric Bergstrom agreed to the unusual plea deal - which included buckets of fried chicken, pizza and lasagna - because it saved the expense of a trial and possible appeals. A murder trial could have cost the county about $4,000, officials said.

DurhamÂ’s insatiable need for greasy food - which included gorging on KFC and PopeyeÂ’s chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, carrot cake, along with a pizza, two calzones, lasagna and ice cream - cost Oregon taxpayers only $41.70. Bergstrom signed off on the deal, and the killer downed the food in two sittings...

After a long wrangling over the terms of the plea deal, prosecutors and Mr. Durham agreed on one count of aggravated murder with a side of Super Size assault.

That last paragraph is made up, but the rest is all too real.

Thanks to MattM.

Posted by: Ace at 01:39 PM | Comments (47)
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