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Beckel: I thought she said the difference between a hockey mom and a Rottweiler -- or maybe it was a pig? -- was lipstick, right?

Surely Uhhhbama is too scary-brilliant to come up with his own applause lines, I suppose.

Then again, he's taking talking points now from Keef Olberrmann. Might be too much work for too little payoff (that's why I'm not doing it), but I bet a google search would find that the "pig/lipstick" line was written hundreds of times by leftwing columnists, bloggers, and "diarists" before Uhhhbama said it.

Thanks to... forget who.

It's Old: JiminJersey--

In his statement Obama also said "You can wrap and OLD fish in newspaper called change. It's still going to stink after 8 years. I agree. Everyone is ignoring the "old fish" line. Obama added the "old" which is obviously a direct reference to McCain which makes the "pig in lipstick" Palin.

It's on the basis of this that I don't give Uhhbama the benefit of the doubt. This was calculated.

The thing is, he did it with enough plausible deniability that I feel a little silly bushing the point (and, frankly, I think the McCain camp looks silly pushing it).

Yes, he almost certainly intended it. But, like his flip-off of Hillary, he did it cannily enough that he can claim, sorta plausibly, that he meant no offense; he's just an idiot.

Don't You Know That It's Different For Girls? Obama's pretty darn-tootin' mad about all these silly "misogynist" charges. Why can't we all just stop dwelling on innocent words, he wants to know.

You know what's not silly? Claiming every damn thing your opponents say is "stelath racist messaging," that's what.

Posted by: Ace at 11:03 AM | Comments (76)
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Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:23 AM | Comments (27)
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You may remember, earlier this year there were some questions as to whether enough Foreign Service Officers would step up and take an assignment in Iraq or if the State Department would be forced to order some to go. After some histrionics, enough diplomats did step up to fill all the positions.

This year? Well, times have changed.

A cable sent to all foreign service officers says 325 jobs in Baghdad and outlying provinces, along with 134 in Kabul, that come open next summer have been filled by qualified volunteers.

"I want to applaud our foreign service and civil service colleagues who have once again come forward to answer the call in Iraq and Afghanistan," Foreign Service Director General Harry Thomas said in the cable.

Officials familiar with the staffing process said that all positions were taken but that assignments for a handful of diplomatic security agents in Iraq were still pending.

I realize this isn't the biggest story in the world but I hate when the MSM runs the bad stuff and ignores the good news. The fact that the foreign service seems to be getting the important role is has to play in Iraq and Afghanistan is definitely good news. I'm sure the improved security conditions in Iraq helped as well.

h/t to Matel-In-Iraq who has more thoughts on what it means to be a diplomat in the nether regions between war and peace as well as some unlikely skills that have come in handy during his time in Anbar Province.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:22 AM | Comments (11)
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Echoing Olbermann's complaint to Obama (why aren't you angrier?), he wants to know who "slipped that Valium into Barack Obama's coffee"?

Somebody needs to tell Obama that if he wants the chance to calmly answer the phone at 3 a.m. in the White House, he is going to need to start slamming down some phones at 3 p.m. along the campaign trail. I like much of what he has to say, especially about energy, but I donÂ’t think people are feeling it in their guts, and I am a big believer that voters donÂ’t listen through their ears. They listen through their stomachs.

Friedman makes the same mistake that has everyone else on the left scratching their heads trying to figure out what happened to the Obama campaign. He thinks (or just claims) Obama's somehow lost his energy, he's not connecting with people like he used to. He pines for the "memorable lines or uplifting visions", then in the same paragraph wants Obama to get specific about real problems, like Fannie Mae, energy and health care.

Trust me Thomas, you don't really want that.

Obama isn't going to tell you what he's going to do, he never has, because he either a) knows most voters will reject it, or (more likely) b) he has no damn idea how to fix it. An energy plan that categorically dismisses increasing the supply of it shows just how unserious he is about the problem.

Obama hasn't connected at a "gut level", he's preached "hopeychange" without explaining what it is, because it's nothing, it's "NOTBUSH". Lofty rhetoric about how things are all screwed up and we're going to "change things" starts thin and gets thinner by the day. He's like a consultant, not a leader.

Q. How does a consultant make love?

A. He sits on the edge of the bed and tells you how fucking awesome it's gonna be.

His problem (one of many) isn't that he's not on fire. There's nothing behind the smoke, and now that the smoke has cleared it's apparent to everyone watching.

And frankly Thomas, when he gets pissed off (and he does), he sticks his foot in his mouth. I don't really think you want him to get mad (well, you do, you just don't want to watch the results). He's pissed now and reacting like a child, crying about how "they're swift-boating me" with that lipstick/pig thing".

It's weak tea buddy. When a guy says "I'm not gonna get bullied around" you can bet your lunch money he's already lost his.

They really don't know what to do, but they're trying Tom.

Here's a timely, and awesomely awesome new Obama campaign logo from S. Weasel. She told me I could steal it, so obviously she's unclear on the whole "theft" concept, but the girl's got game:

Update: I had most of this below the fold cause it's a little long, but that doesn't do justice to Stoaty's logo. Honestly, I could have just written "BLAH-DEY, BLAH BLAPPITY BLAH Friedman Obama love". The logo is the shit man.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 10:20 AM | Comments (63)
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Herr Doktor Science has decided he doesn't like the mundaneness McSame or oBlama, so he's going with real quality instead.

...will instead give his seal of approval to four candidates: Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney, Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr, independent candidate Ralph Nader, and Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin, according to a senior Paul aide...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 09:07 AM | Comments (49)
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The McCain campaign's latest ad:

This hits Barack Obama right where he's most vulnerable at the moment - the difference between his message of hope, change and new politics and the actions of his campaign. As Allah points out, this is nothing new for Obama, whose tactics have always undermined his message. It's just that either no one bothered to point it out, or the media ignored it when they did.

Personally, I thought the "Lipstick" ad was created just to tick off The One and throw him off-message. And it succeeded. This latest ad, though, peels back the hopechangehappyunicornfarts message and shows Obama for what he really is - just another politician. And given the vacuousness of his policy proposals, he can't afford to be seen as simply a politician.

Posted by: Slublog at 09:00 AM | Comments (82)
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The last of the Berkeley tree sitters have finally given up their brave, pointless struggle.

The protesters surrendered to police at the top of the seven-story scaffold, where they were handcuffed and escorted down the structure's stairs to the applause of hundreds of onlookers, some of whom voiced support for the four men's cause and some of whom appeared happy that the 21-month protest was finally over.

Now 'Shem,' 'Huck,' and 'Ayr' can be reunited with 'Dumpster Muffin.' I am not kidding. What is it with these children and silly nicknames?

Maybe Hollowpoint or Spongeworthy can explain it to us.

Hours later, the redwood was cut down, paving the way for construction of a $125-million athletic training facility on the site next to the campus' Memorial Stadium.

Somehow the protestors came to believe that Berkeley had agreed to create a land use committee that would include students. Representatives from the school deny ever making such a deal.

Heh.

more...

Posted by: LauraW at 07:30 AM | Comments (77)
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This didn't take long.

Obama just talked about this at an event in Virginia. He blamed the cynical tactics of the McCain campaign and the stupidity of the media for falling for it.
He says it's a "phony and foolish diversion" and "swiftboat politics".

You know what all that translates to? Rattled.

On the upside, he did call Palin "The Governor Of Alaska".

Just a note, this doesn't have the "I'm John McCain and I approve this message" so it's not running on TV, just the web.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:45 AM | Comments (114)
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When’s the last time we had one of these? Sadly, some guy calling himself “Ace” seems to have taken over the blog recently and tried to turn it into a political site when, after all, it’s best known as a very smart military blog.

First up, we have the late Bob Hope commenting on zombies, the undead and a certain political party here

Next, we have the ultimate stocking stuffer for your, uh, “loved ones” in the form of Guitar Idol. Yes, it’s a real product and the commercial ran many times over last weekend, particularly during late night PAC-10 football games.

Which reminds me of a late night commercial I saw once, and only once, maybe 25 years ago. It was for something called "Conductorsize." It was an exercise program based on the idea that orchestra conductors are very fit because they're always waving their arms around, etc. So of course for $19.95 you got a cassette tape of classical music (cds were in their infancy), instruction manual and, of course, your very own conductor's wand.

Personally, I’m gonna’ hold off until they come up with “Drum Idol” or “Ukelele Idol.” Because that shit right there would fly right off the shelves.

Next, and this was a few days ago, so it’s ancient, we have a video from CNN showing a 50-foot tall mechanical spider being driven around in Liverpool, England (Note: based on conversion tables, 50 feet is roughly equivalent to 738 deciliters…or kilometers. Hectares? I forget which.) So yes, it looks like something out of the fabulously successful movie re-make of the “Wild Wild West.” Watch the whole thing here. It's good to see that the UK is beefing up its defenses against Shelob and her children/spawn. Though why they'd want to invade England is a mystery to me. She hungers for sweeter meats and lets be honest: Is there really anything in the UK worth eating?

Finally, three political stories (and I hate to include those in our family-friendly military blog).

First, the Seattle Times did an interesting Q&A type interview with John Zogby a couple of days ago (Sunday) which is some pretty good reading. You can find that here.

Second, the Honorable Representative Jim McDermott (D-Dementia) strode bravely down to the House floor to declare that it was time to impeach President Bush. I applaud his efforts, because we can’t stand for this President seeking a 3rd term in office. To Jim I say: “Stay gold Ponyboy! Stay gold!” As if that means anything. LauraW told me it was “non-sequiter Tuesday”, so I’m just trying to play along. Read all about it here.

Third, finally and worst, the charming radio talk show host Randi Rhodes, current and/or former host on Air America (I can never remember if the network even exists anymore) practically calls McCain a collaborator with the North Vietnamese during his captivity. A snippet:

“Of course he (McCain) became very friendly with the Vietnamese. They called him the Prince. He was well treated actually. And he was well treated because he traded these propaganda interviews for good treatment.”

So, you see, it was basically tea and crumpets with his NVA hosts. And what the fuck is a crumpet anyway? I’m not about to go look it up. As for me, I like to nibble on cucumber sandwiches along with my tea as we gather around the small pond out back of the manor house in the afternoon and engage in the usual chit-chat. And yes, I do like the crust trimmed from the bread. What does that matter to you? Quit judging me and go read the story and listen to the audio here. Scroll down a little until you get to the big headline that reads “TRULY SICK.”

Posted by: Open Blog at 03:46 AM | Comments (25)
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In this post I briefly explored one of the things the LHC might be able to accomplish - to prove or disprove the existence of the Higgs Boson. Foolishly, I originally thought the only practical use for the LHC would be as a doomsday weapon to stop the replicators.

I was wrong. more...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 12:07 AM | Comments (40)
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