Archive for September 4, 2008

Obama on the Factor

Barack Obama just finished an interview on the “O’Reilly Factor,” and O’Reilly aired the first section just an hour ago. Obama did very, very well, so well that O’Reilly himself said of hm after, “He’s not a wimp.” He talked tough in national security terms normally reserved for Republicans. O’Reilly’s making a mistake by giving him this forum… but I’m fine with that. Next Monday, same time, Obama discussed Reverend Wright.

John McCain’s Buzzword Bingo

UPDATE: in the wake of Sarah Palin’s platitude explosion last night (10/2/08), please feel free to treat this as an “any Republican” bingo card.

Last night, Sarah Palin angrily delivered a politically empty, emotionally charged, well-spoken speech about the danger of people who deliver politically empty, emotionally charged, well-spoken speeches. Hmm.

Anyways, tonight’s John McCain’s turn, and in preparation for a deluge of lingo, enjoy this buzzword bingo sheet in good health. If you need instructions on playing buzzword bingo, please see Dilbert.

Be sure to report your tally in the comments. Extra rules: the numbers (“POW #1″) refer to the first, second, third, etc. mention of the term “POW.” Mention of any theme of “elitism” is a “wild card” – cover a tile of your choice each time it comes up.

Gloria Steinem Stole My Palin/Schlafly Comparison!

From Palin: Wrong Woman, Wrong Message – “Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger…. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton’s candidacy stood for — and that Barack Obama’s still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, ‘Somebody stole my shoes, so I’ll amputate my legs.’”

No Prosecution of Would-Be Obama Assassins

Taking down guys who send baby powder to John McCain is more important than prosecuting white supremacists who planned an attempt on Obama’s life.

Glaring Palin Lies from Last Night

1. She voted for the bridge to nowhere… before she voted against it. Campaigning on her opposition to pork overlooks her yearly trips to D.C. to secure pork for Alaska, including this project.
2. Obama’s energy policy is slightly more complicated than “no offshore drilling.” In fact, it’s “drill offshore responsibly while pursuing other sources.”
3. While Palin may try to frame Obama’s Iraq plan as surrender, in fact, McCain’s plan has come to look more like Obama’s over the summer.

Sarah Palin, Culture Warrior, Takes the Stand

Common era, 2008. America recovers from its abusive relationship with a hyperpartisan chief executive run amok, and attempts to cope with issues of national import through (how novel!) unity and pursuit of shared values. But who to lead (or, co-lead) us through this vital era? Clearly, an inveterate culture warrior and purveyor of wedge issues who, having brought partisanship, censorship, and division to a small town of 5,000, now seeks to do the same to a nation of millions, while hiding her personal history until the last moment. A Rovian politicker who’s more interested in abusing power to hide damaging facts than informing the electorate: have we heard this before?

Enter Sarah Palin, who took the stage last night to (in no small part) defend herself from multiple scandals missed by the McCain camp’s incredibly thorough vetting process, and she exited to wild acclaim. Rhetorically, Obama has found his foe… but not his match. Sarah Palin amounts to a pleasant face on Cheney’s tactics of dodging responsibility, and Bush’s far-right ideology.

If her speech was effective, it was nonetheless a throwback to the Bush era, an attempt to define what makes America great by what holds her back (fear of “elitists”). With one hand she drew close the rural poor (“small town values”), and with the other pushed away the urban poor (backhanded slaps at community organizers). If it sounded nice, Palin’s speech was nonetheless the first shot in a new round of the culture wars. She’s trying to win America with the strategy that won her hometown: divide, embitter, and conquer.

Still, this manner of debasing rhetoric is a force to be reckoned with, and to counter it Obama (and Biden!) will need to hit hard, talk substance, and remind America of Palin’s divergence from our shared beliefs & values. Primarily, we can’t let her parlay “no knowledge outside my small town” into “small town values” unrebutted. Small towns are well and good – but her vision of small town government, partisan rule with an iron fist, is not a mold that fits America any longer.

In her nexus with Bush’s strategy (tactics shared of late by McCain), Bush’s rhetoric, and Bush’s ideas, Palin amounts to the political equivalent of “thank you, sir, may I have another?” Let’s hope America realizes it.