•  •  •  SCATOLOGY WEEK  •  •  •

Joe Lieberman offers up a ginormous double shitburger to the Senate Democrats that allowed him to continue as chairman of two senate committees. “I made it myself,” quipped Lieberman.

WASHINGTON — Senator Joe the Lie berman, with McCain Campaign trail makeup still etched in the folds of his face, presented the Senate Democratic Caucus with one of his legendary homemade, giant double-shitburgers, after emerging victorious from a secret caucus vote which allows him top off his stint as a disloyal Dick with the retention of his two senate chairs.

Although many members of the caucus are privately furious over Lieberman’s ugly butt-sucking behavior during the campaign, they are betting their “lingering resentment” will cause Lieberman to cooperate with them when it comes time to get down in the sewage again. This kind of “you rub shit on my back and I’ll rub shit on yours” ploy has always produced reciprocity in the past, but some senators are openly skeptical about ever trusting Lieberman again.  “He’s a giant double-shitburger-making machine,” said one senator who voted against Lieberman. “Some of my colleagues think this is politically smart,” he said, “but just wait. Lieberman is a lying sack of shit, and he doesn’t care who steps in it. There’s no more trusting toads like that.”

Apparently the red uniforms beat the blue uniforms to win the World Series.  Anyway, there’s the zone Obama was trying for; the middle.

Just watched the Obama 30 minute ad, and to be honest, I have to say I had a hard time identifying with it.  I guess it was just too blatantly pitched to the middle class;  whoever they are.  I should say up front that I’m one of those Americans who will suffer a tax increase under an Obama administration because, in fact, I’m way inside the top one percent of all wealthy Americans these days.

How wealthy am I?  I’m not really sure, what with the roller coaster economy these days, but as an admirer recently marveled, I have a $60 million dollar custom built jet, and a $24 million dollar doggy jet that follows it with our two dachshunds, Willie Wanker Warhol and Dandy Dick The Dachshund.

Liberals attacked McCain for not knowing exactly how many residences he owns, but truth is, the guy is a pauper, really.  Oh, Cindy has some beer bucks I’m told, and seven homes might impress a few single home owners;  but I own twenty-seven homes that range in price from Obama’s 1.6 million dollar dump to my private island estate at $300 mil.  But enough about my munnies.

It was clear from the Obama ad—  I don’t care for the McCain “infomercial” slur— that he’s in the tank for the middle class.  It’s just too bad that a big gaggle of them are outright racist, another flock are confused Republicans who think they’ll get rich some day, and then there’s the Democrats. Why anyone would try to unify this rabble is beyond me. And no, I won’t try and scare you with that socialism shtick, God forbid the middle class figures that out. The less said about “spreading the wealth around” the better.  Just give me a president who will make my tax cuts permanent and keep the war machine crackin’ open new markets.

So yeah.  Middle class? Save your ass; vote for Palin-McCain so the wealth will continue to trickle down to you, and we can have victory wherever we choose no matter how long it takes, or how many of your kids get to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep our nation free.  And don’t worry about me.  I’ll be fine.

(LOFL)

The Grand Oil Party slogging through the political wilderness

Updating my initial compilation of the Obamacans (Republicans for Obama ) is becoming quite the task. Add endorsements from the likes of W’s former Secretary of State Colin Powell and press spokesman Scotty McClellan; former Reagan’s UN Secretary Kenneth Adleman; former McCain adviser Charles Fried; former Minnesota Republican Governor William Weld; former South Dakota Senator Larry Pressler– well, you get the idea.

More interesting is what a post-election loss will mean to the Republican party as a whole as the unholy alliance between its corporatist and fundamental evangelical wings rips itself asunder. At stake is control of the party. Will it be Palin v. Romney? Huckabee v. Ridge? (In order to make it a fair a balanced civil war, Fux News will have to give Palin her own yack show alongside Huck’s.)

Today’s LA Times leads with a story titled “Social conservatives fight for control of Republican Party” , which points out the fundies have quietly taken over the machinery of the GOP.

In skirmishes around the country in recent months, evangelicals and others who believe Republicans have been too timid in fighting abortion, gay marriage and illegal immigration have won election to the party’s national committee, in preparation for a fight over the direction and leadership of the party

Meaning that even if McCain wins, God forfend, the battle for the soul of the GOP is already joined. Reports of Palin going rogue are the first visible sign. Recall her Freudian slip at a rally last month where she referred to “a Palin and McCain administration.”

Could be the basis for a hit scripted reality show: Survivor meets The Handmaid’s Tale’s , a ripped from the headlines, theocratic melodrama timed to usher in the end of days.

All of which should provide some badly needed (though temporary) comic relief as the Obama Administration struggles with the legacy of ruin left to it by the Bushies. That would include the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,  a health care system on the brink of collapse, military occupations in two Muslim countries with the promise of more military operations to come (witness recent incursions into Syria and Pakistan, not to mention covert ops inside Iran),  and an overcrowded planet facing severe resource depletion and environmental degradation set against a background of runaway global warming.

Can I get me a witness?

[Image from data5.blog.de]

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

Some further reflections on this comment I posted at The Lake this morning, vamping off Blue Texan’s analysis of the disaster that John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin is proving to be:

“He chose…poorly.”

Great line, delivered by the ancient guardian knight in the second Indiana Jones movie about the holy grail.

The greedy bad guy has to choose the actual cup used at the Last Supper (which is suppose to confer eternal life). Instead of selecting the humble wood one, the kind that would be carved by a hard working (social activist!) carpenter, he chooses (identifies with) the most ornate one, as befitting a great king, poisoning himself in the process.

How fitting.

If the antagonist had related to Jesus as the humble Prince of Peace instead of the mighty King of the Holy Roman Empire, he would have chosen wisely and not have died such a horrible death.

In the scene depicted below, Indy uses the healing power of the grail to restore a worthy life, his father’s, a life dedicated to the quest for knowledge. Contrast that with the desire to merely prolong an unworthy life, one dedicated to greed and power.

Redemption, at least in the secular sense, is a theme the USA and the rest of the world might want to pursue now that the neocon Republican world view has proven such an utter disaster.

If you can’t stay up that late anymore.

One of the functions of humor is to help all of us take ourselves less seriously.

But political satire has every bit as important a blade to wield as political analysis.  People who were apprehensive about Palin’s appearance on a comedy show were-so because they see nothing remotely “funny” about her candidacy;  rather do they see unmitigated disaster for our country should McCain-Palin manage to wheedle their way into the White House.

Alec Balwin, who takes a stab at diagnosing the discomfort of viewing the “real” Palin appearing on SNL, doesn’t seem to get that, but he does get the “humor is as humor does” approach to reality.

Laughing in the face of appalling danger is difficult on a good day;  on a really bad day, it’s well-nigh impossible.  But humor can be a safety valve to prevent the building up of pressure from the intense struggle for genuine human progress. Through humor it’s possible to get the point and the insight as it  mitigates the impact of rigid fact, or relative truth.

The delicious irony then, of watching Palin parody her own refusal to answer questions, but sit-dance like a political puppet to a prega-nant Amy Poehler parodying Palin, well; guess you have to go there only if you dare.

All humor aside, one thing is for certain. Hearing Sarah lie on the teevee day after day through that tightly-pinched voice box of hers will never make me want to see her on SNL ever again, let alone in the White House.

The Mouse Circus and the Blogosphere are saying Obama “trounced” McCain.

What would you expect the “liberal left” MSM to say?
That McCain’s angry lizard temperament was just what America needs?

You wont need to use a scalpel to unpack the debate performances of “that one” and the fighter jock, because it’s as plain as the flicking tongue who won what voters.  Let’s take a look.

The “Vote angry” vote.  They have “every reason to be angry,” and John stroked them where they live. McCain took every last one of the “too angry to think straight” vote.

McCain then courted, and won, the Joe-the-Plumber vote. Plumbers around the country with butt crack fatigue will vote for McCain without ever looking at the tax benefits Obama layed out for them.

“The Mobile-Exxon” vote goes to McCain; Obama will take away their huge tax break over our dead bodies.

Irish  business vote went to McCain because he mentioned Ireland’s business tax rate.

Auto industry voters got an ass whipping from Obama for falling behind the curve; vote to McCain.

“Any trade agreement is a good trading agreement” vote to McCain.

Responsible “Pay as you go” freaks— to Obama.

Insurance executive vote:  McCain.

“Send money to people that don’t like us very much” vote is totally McCain’s.

“Sarcastic Admiration of Obama’s eloquence through a McCain filter” vote:  to McCain.

“Drugs killing young Americans” vote: McCain.

“Columbia internal politics be damned, trade agreement a no brainer” vote to McCain.

Peruvian vote: Mostly Obama’s.

“Stand up to other countries” vote goes 100% McCain.

“Ham-handed gestures” vote exclusively McCain’s.

“Throwing money at the problem” vote planning group suicide, but survivors will vote McCain. [Read more →]

Should Sarah Palin be dropped from the Republican ticket?

David Brooks at The New York Times:

Is Sarah Palin qualified to be vice president? Most conservatives say yes, on the grounds that something that feels so good could not possibly be wrong. But a few commentators, like George Will, Charles Krauthammer, David Frum and Ross Douthat demur, suggesting in different ways that she is unready.

Kathleen Parker at National Review Online:

…it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion…

…I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.

Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.” …

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself…

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Do it for your country.

Jack Cafferty of CNN:

With Palin’s negative poll ratings rising inversely to McCain’s crash in the polls, I say— hell no! This is no time for McCain to be a real maverick!

•

Fugue* Magazine is on top of the story.

Despite the best attempts of the McCain campaign to derail a bipartisan commission looking into Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s role in forcing a former official out of office for not firing her ex-brother in law, Sainted Sarah was found guilty of abusing her power and violating state ethics statutes.

Pausing briefly from her campaign of inciting crowds to an irrational fear and hatred of Barack Obama, she simply denied that she had violated anything, and returned to promoting herself as a maverick that would change the way government functions in Washington, D.C.

Despite promising to cooperate with the investigation fully, she clammed up after being selected to replace Darth Cheney as the nation’s VP. Instead, the NY Times reports that

“The McCain campaign flew operatives into Alaska to wage a public relations campaign to discredit the investigation and to help mount legal challenges to it.”

The lead “operative” was former US Attorney Edward O’Callaghan, who HuffPo reports was until just a few weeks ago the

“…co-chief of the terrorism and national security unit of the U.S. attorney’s office in New York.”

Now, I made a living in the legal profession in Alaska for three years in the early nineties, so the names of the special investigator Steve Branchflower, a former prosecutor, and the fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan, the former Anchorage Police chief, are not unfamiliar to me.

In addition to the traditonal machismo associated with these jobs, these guys are typical Alaskans when it comes to having outsiders tell them how to run their biz, so I won’t be surprised if we learn that they told McCain’s goons to go straight to hell.

There’s an old Alaskan saying that refers to the historic disparity between the number of males to females in the state that can be tweaked to fit the current governor’s improbable rise to power:

Alaska: Where the odds are good but the goods are odd.

•

* fugue a state or period of loss of awareness of one’s identity,
often coupled with flight from one’s usual environment, associated
with certain forms of hysteria and epilepsy.

PLAYING WITH FIRE

“I play to win. I do whatever it takes to win.
If I have to fuck my opponent to win I’ll do it.
If I have to destroy my opponent I won’t give it a second thought.”
—John McCain

The quote is from Capital Hill Blue’s Doug Thompson.  It is a personal recollection of Thompson’s, from a GOP gathering of the National Republican Senatorial Committee where McCain outlined his strategy for winning his race for the Senate.

Given McCain’s self-described canon, it’s hardly a stretch to believe he professed such a crass philosophy.  And above all other considerations, it puts the lie on his religion; whether it was Rethuglican bravado or genuine credo.  Embracing such a tactic er, strategy— or the meaningless distinction McCain draws between the two— is tantamount to embracing evil.

Evil.  Soul destroying wickedness. Playing with the fire of mortal existence. Not the physical “fire” of some make-believe eternal torture pit unthinking Christians ascribe to God as thee Supreme Torturer, but the cessation of the gift of life— forever.

Grownups can agree: there really is no fate worse than eternal death. Such a fate is, of course, a judgment made by an Infinite Father for his errant children, whom God allows through free will choice to be the architects of their own destiny.

It should be instructive to any moral being— but especially professed Christians like McCain and Palin— that choosing and abusing hypocrisy— the one sin the Son of God yelled at the Sanhedrin for— is very dangerous ground. No matter how you bullshit yourself, don’t expect our Divine Judges to reason with you that “politics” is just that sort of “game.”

The greatest punishment (in reality an inevitable consequence)
for wrongdoing and deliberate rebellion against
the government of God is loss of existence
as an individual subject of that government.
The final result of wholehearted sin is annihilation.
In the last analysis, such sin-identified individuals
have destroyed themselves by becoming
wholly unreal through their embrace of iniquity.
—The Urantia Book

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UPDATE:

Georgia Congressman John Lewis says John McCain and Sarah Palin are “stoking hate” by creating the atmosphere at Republican campaign events to those of George Wallace, the segregationist former governor of Alabama.  Said Lewis, “Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.”

More from Jonathan Martin:

Appearing with Barack Obama at a forum at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in August, McCain included John Lewis as one of “three wise men” he would consult as president.

“He can teach us all a lot about the meaning of courage and commitment to causes greater than our self-interest,” McCain said of Lewis.

Now, Lewis is castigating McCain in the harshest of terms.

“As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all,” Lewis said today. “They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.”

McCain responded with disappointment, but also a challenge to Obama.

“I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I’ve always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track,” the GOP nominee said in a statement this afternoon.”

Read the entire article here.

Fear and anger weaken character, and destroy happiness.
Is that so hard to understand?  And just like hate, anger is a destructive influence on the human soul.

•

Aww;  what a sweetie!  Ignoring the “WSJ” is no big deal. But the perfunctorily nasty manner in how it was done is telling of McCain’s temperament.

It’s instructive that McCain points to Teddy Roosevelt as one of his heroes.  Roosevelt was a hypomaniac, too.  According to John Gartner, author of The Hypomanic Edge, “hypomaniacs” are “brimming with infectious energy, irrational confidence, and really big ideas.  They think, talk, move and make decisions quickly.  Anyone who slows them down with questions ‘just doesn’t get it.’”  What’s more, the hypomanic will act impulsively, with poor judgment, in ways that can have painful consequences.  Starting to sound familiar?

But before you drink this milkshake, don’t forget to pour in a brutal heaping portion of PTSD; then you can really see why Mark Benjamin found it so easy to find people who had been chest-poked by McTemper.

Robert Greenwald’s latest compilation on McCain is yet another chronicle of McCain’s temperament problem, a sever handicap that simply should never be a part of any president’s arsenal of personality attributes. Watch:

•

Anger is a material manifestation which represents, in a general way,
the measure of the failure of the spiritual nature to gain control of
the combined intellectual and physical natures.
Anger indicates your lack of tolerant brotherly love
plus your lack of self-respect and self-control.
Anger depletes the health, debases the mind,
and handicaps the spirit teacher of man’s soul.

—Jesus, Speaking in The Urantia Papers

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