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The Weekly Rewind: Abbreviated Thanksgiving Edition was published Saturday morning... but somewhere between 'post' and 'view', it dissapeared into the cosmos that is the internet.

Happy Thanksgiving from TBWA

And to mark the occasion, here's President-elect Obama's Thanksgiving Day Address:

Good morning.

Nearly 150 years ago, in one of the darkest years of our nation’s history, President Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of Thanksgiving. America was split by Civil War. But Lincoln said in his first Thanksgiving decree that difficult times made it even more appropriate for our blessings to be – and I quote – "gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people."

This week, the American people came together with families and friends to carry on this distinctly American tradition. We gave thanks for loved ones and for our lasting pride in our communities and our country. We took comfort in good memories while looking forward to the promise of change.

But this Thanksgiving also takes place at a time of great trial for our people.

Across the country, there were empty seats at the table, as brave Americans continue to serve in harm’s way from the mountains of Afghanistan to the deserts of Iraq. We honor and give thanks for their sacrifice, and stand by the families who endure their absence with such dignity and resolve.

At home, we face an economic crisis of historic proportions. More and more Americans are worried about losing a job or making their mortgage payment. Workers are wondering if next month’s paycheck will pay next month’s bills. Retirees are watching their savings disappear, and students are struggling with the cost of tuition.

It’s going to take bold and immediate action to confront this crisis. That’s why I’m committed to forging a new beginning from the moment I take office as President of the United States. Earlier this week, I announced my economic team. This talented and dedicated group is already hard at work crafting an Economic Recovery Plan that will create or save 2.5 million new jobs, while making the investments we need to fuel long-term economic growth and stability.

But this Thanksgiving, we are reminded that the renewal of our economy won’t come from policies and plans alone – it will take the hard work, innovation, service, and strength of the American people.

I have seen this strength firsthand over many months – in workers who are ready to power new industries, and farmers and scientists who can tap new sources of energy; in teachers who stay late after school, and parents who put in that extra hour reading to their kids; in young Americans enlisting in a time of war, seniors who volunteer their time, and service programs that bring hope to the hopeless.

It is a testament to our national character that so many Americans took time out this Thanksgiving to help feed the hungry and care for the needy. On Wednesday, I visited a food bank at Saint Columbanus Parish in Chicago. There – as in so many communities across America – folks pitched in time and resources to give a lift to their neighbors in need. It is this spirit that binds us together as one American family – the belief that we rise and fall as one people; that we want that American Dream not just for ourselves, but for each other.

That’s the spirit we must summon as we make a new beginning for our nation. Times are tough. There are difficult months ahead. But we can renew our nation the same way that we have in the many years since Lincoln’s first Thanksgiving: by coming together to overcome adversity; by reaching for – and working for – new horizons of opportunity for all Americans.

So this weekend – with one heart, and one voice, the American people can give thanks that a new and brighter day is yet to come.

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

There will be no postings tomorrow in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. From us at TBWA; have a safe, happy, filling and tasty Thanksgiving.

• Former Fed Chairman (1979 – 1987) Paul Volcker will head a new economic recovery board under President-elect Obama that will advise his administration on how to revive the ailing economy… Volcker was my initial choice for Commerce Secretary, but wit this, Obama has found a way to keep his strong economic mind around. Good call…
• Washington Post: “First off, the likely plan is to break off the agency from the Department of Homeland Security, a move that by itself would help restore the pride that folks at FEMA felt when it was an independent agency.” (Brilliant! FEMA should have never been brought into DHS in the first place as their goals and missions are vastly disparate… but the Bush(whacked) Administration decided to merge them in some attempt to… to… I have no idea what their reasoning was, but it turned out to be disastrous, and I’m glad President-elect Obama is making the change… but that’s not all:) “Second, there's increasing talk that former director James Lee Witt, who took over the then-troubled agency at the start of the Clinton administration and left it eight years later with a much-enhanced reputation, is coming back from retirement to run FEMA for six months to a year, to whip it into shape.” (Good news indeed… the department needs to have a massive shake-up and this should do the trick nicely)
• Not surprisingly, the Obama transition team is the fastest-moving cabinet pickers ever…
• Rep. Charles Rangel continues his republican impression… and is angry that people are calling him on it. (The Democratic leadership needs to oust Rangel from any committees he’s on or chairs, NOW. Voter’s anger towards republicans was partially fueled by their lack of ethics, and if we go down the same route – we’re screwed)
• Sen. Lieberman’s “Taking Foot Out of Mouth Tour” continues… saying yesterday that PE Obama’s cabinet picks have been “just about perfect” before adding; “Everything that President-elect Obama has done since election night has been just about perfect, both in terms of a tone and also in terms of the strength of the names that have either been announced or are being discussed to fill his administration.” (We know Joe has no shame, but if you can’t see through this, you’re just not trying hard enough…)
• And have we mentioned? That right-wing tool Ann Coulter broke her jaw recently and has had her mouth wired shut? Really, what else needs to be said…

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Today marks 8 weeks until President-elect Obama takes office, unfortunately that also means we still have 8 weeks left of the Bush presidency. Gotta take the good with the bad right now…

• The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve announced this morning that they have designs of pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy… (about friggin’ time…). BTW, the Commerce Department reported this morning that the U.S. economy shrank half a percent in the third quarter. Experts say the shrinkage was “faster than previously estimated” and attribute it to consumer spending plunging to its lowest level in almost three decades…
• Since “President” Bush seemingly isn’t doing a damn thing for the economy, it’s up to President-elect Obama to start righting the ship. CNN.com’s Gloria Borger wrote yesterday that Obama has taken charge of turning around the economy by nominating Tim Geithner to head Treasury and Larry Summers to direct the National Economic Council. (Yesterday I lamented how people were criticizing Obama for not doing enough for the struggling economy, despite him not being the president yet. Turns out that maybe he is the president already considering that our current CIC isn’t doing a God-damn thing about anything… like a Senior during finals week, Bush has checked out and is biding his time until he’s done… too bad SCOTUS can’t speed up Inauguration Day…)
• PE Obama’s national security team is also starting to take shape…
• Ari Fleischer’s group, F*e*d*m’s W*t*h, is as dead as a kipper on a cracker…
• A replacement for Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s senate seat has been named, and it’s his former chief of staff, Ted Kaufman. Seemingly Kaufman will keep the seat warm for the last two years of the term before moving aside for Biden’s son, Beau – Delaware’s current Attorney General who is now serving in Iraq as a Captain in the National Guard – to make a run. Still nothing on a replacement for PE Obama’s senate seat…
• And have we mentioned? That “President” Bush has kept the, IMO archaic & monarchistic, presidential perk of pardoning alive? Like Clinton, Bush 1, Reagan and all others before them, Bush has started pardoning 14 people while commuting two. I won’t criticize Bush’s use of this perk because all other presidents have used it. I will say that for a government founded on the basis of checks and balances, allowing the president to do this is in direct opposition to why this country was founded…

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Over the weekend…

• Sen. Lieberman refused to apologize for campaigning against and harshly criticizing Barack Obama. Appearing on “Meet the Press” yesterday, the… the…God I don’t even know what to call the man anymore; ah screw it; Lieberman did say he “regrets” “some of the things” he said… uh-huh. Thanks for that Joe… you schmuck.
• Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia skipped the Senate vote on the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 this weekend (the bill would have extended unemployment benefits 13 weeks in states with an unemployment rate of at least 6%) so he could give a speech on… wait for it… Georgia’s unemployment. Can we say ‘irony’?
• “President” Bush attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Peru…
• Thomas Friedman wrote this in Sunday’s NY Times; “If I had my druthers right now we would convene a special session of Congress, amend the Constitution and move up the inauguration from Jan. 20 to Thanksgiving Day. Forget the inaugural balls; we can’t afford them. Forget the grandstands; we don’t need them. Just get me a Supreme Court justice and a Bible, and let’s swear in Barack Obama right now — by choice — with the same haste we did — by necessity — with L.B.J. in the back of Air Force One.” SECONDED!!!

Monday already? At least it’s a short week…

• Citigroup is getting bailed out…
• President-elect Obama’s economic team is starting to take shape, and it looks impressive.
• It’s amazing that PE Obama has not even taken office yet and he’s getting criticized. First it’s a column on CNN.com that says Obama needs to lead on the current economic crisis. No, he really doesn’t. He’s not president yet, George Bush is, and HE is the one who should be acting to help the economy… and any criticism of Obama is ridiculous and everyone knows that if Obama was trying to lead during this crisis before being sworn in, people would be railing against that. The one and only person who should be leading now to help the economy is the President… not the President-elect. Give it a rest people…
• And have we mentioned? That a new system of monitors that was designed to track lead emissions from factories has been “scaled back” after (surprise, surprise) the White House intervened “at the last minute”? The scaling back will further weaken last month’s EPA ruling that limits toxic metal particles in the air. Ya see, the White House (who it should be known HATES the environment) altered the EPA’s plan that would have required lead monitors next to any factory that emitted at least half a ton of lead a year, therefore raising the threshold to a ton of lead or more… so take a deep breath and feel the burn.

The Weekly Rewind

It’s the weekend, and what does that mean? .... White Sox baseball? Nascar? Nope their seasons are over … Bear’s football? ... oh yeah ! Go Bears! Okay it also means that it is time for the weekly rewind….so here we go.

Heckle: to a smackdown. Earlier this week, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sarah Palin won’t be the next leader of the Republican party. “I think that she is going to be a significant player,” said Gingrich during an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “But she’s going to be one of 20 or 30 significant players. She’s not going to be the de facto leader.” So she will be a little fish in a big pond…..Snap!

Heckle: to another environmental slap from the lame duck administration. On Election Day, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced a Dec. 19 auction of more than 50,000 acres of oil and gas parcels alongside or within view of three national parks in Utah. Environmentalists are calling the move a Bush administration “fire sale” for the oil and gas industry, while the National Park Service’s top official in the state said it was “shocking and disturbing.” Don’t forget sneaky, diversionary.....basically par for the course with this President.

Heckle: to something that we were thinking, oh, 6 months ago. According to a new National Association of Business Economists’ poll of 50 professional forecasters, the “U.S. economy is in recession and will contract at a faster pace in the fourth quarter, extending the decline into early 2009 as high unemployment crimps consumer spending.” Preliminary government estimates showed GDP contracted 0.3 percent in the third quarter. Besides being a run-on sentence, the forecasters must have been sleeping the fist ¾ of the year.

Heckle: to a prime example of what’s wrong. The stock market suffered a terrible couple of days this week, dropping below 8,000 points for the first time since 2003. New-home starts in October were the lowest since at least 1959, and the consumer price index plummeted by the most since that series of monthly data was started in 1947, as the economy slowed so abruptly that companies had to slash prices to sell products. Who are we going to be asked to bail out next? Come to think of it I could use some cash!

Applaud: to making sense. Earlier this week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) challenged “the idea that the expanded Democratic majority and its leaders will make a hard left turn,” the Hill reports. According to the prepared remarks for a speech at the National Press Club, Hoyer argued, “For the first time in decades, we are a true national majority party–and if we want to stay that way, we must govern like one.” Finally a Representative who is seeing the big picture. We applaud this perspective.

Heckle: to more of the same. In a report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction it states that “The Pentagon spent about $600 million on more than 1,200 Iraq reconstruction contracts that were eventually canceled,” adding that “42% of canceled contracts were terminated because the contractor either failed to deliver or performed poorly.” This has been par for the course for this administration. How badly could the U.S. economy have used that money? (Here’s a clue, we could still use it..)

Heckle: to No Shit Sherlock. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen said in an interview this week that “stress on U.S. troops from repeated combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan is ‘extraordinary’ and may be worsening even as fighting eases in Iraq.” Mullen expressed hope that “the strain will be relieved gradually as the Marine Corps and Army expand the pool of available forces.” Somehow I doubt it. I know what will reduce / relieve the strain on our troops….getting out of Iraq!

And this week there have been many rumors and leaks as to Cabinet level appointees in the upcoming Obama administration. As Kemp stated, we will address these when the appointee themselves decides to speak out. I would even extend that to when President-Elect Obama or his official spokesperson(s) speak to a nomination.

And finally our tool of the week: In a press release earlier this week, multiple time Presidential candidate and all around tool, Alan Keyes kicked his ‘tool’ rating up a few notches by being party to a lawsuit filed in the State of California which seeks to block the state from giving it’s electoral votes to President-Elect Obama. The suit was filed to force Obama to provide documentary evidence that he is in fact a natural born citizen of the United States. Okay, back in October the Health Department in the State of Hawaii declared that a Certificate of Live Birth was genuine. Keep in mind this is the same certificate that you or I would get from the state we were born in that verifies birth information. Come on Alan get over it, you lost, you had no chance of winning. And for this Alan Keyes is our Tool of the Week!

Okay so this may not be up to my usual standard of snarkiness. Rest assured I have never left you, instead I have been behind the scenes (with a lot of stuff going on). Honestly though, I share plenty of snark when giving Kemp my thoughts and input on many of the posts that you read on a daily basis. Yes thats right some of the snark you read has a little of me sprinkled in it.

So sit back and relax, I am ramping up for what promises to be some very stupid last days of the Bush Administration...or should I say, The "Bush"-Whacked Adminstration. Stay tuned, this last 58 days may get even more stupid.

Be good, stay informed…..later.

The Friday ‘BushWhack’ing

TGIFF…

• TBWA’s thoughts and prayers are with Attorney General Mike Mukasey. He suffered a fainting spell (and not a stroke as earlier reports had stated) while speaking last night and was rushed to the hospital.
• “President” Bush finally relented yesterday and signed a bill that will extend jobless benefits by at least seven weeks, something he didn’t do in September when he vetoed a similar bill… apparently a rapidly-declining economy and rapidly-declining approval numbers do wonders for some people…
• Just when you think the “Obama is a Muslim” rumor has died down, it flares up again… give it a rest people…
• According to aides to President-elect Obama, Sen. Clinton is “on track” for the Secretary of State job. (I will not believe any of the names for any of the Cabinet posts until I hear it directly from the leaked appointee…)
• Soon-to-be COS Rahm Emanuel met with republican leaders up on the Hill yesterday, extending an olive branch while pushing for bi-partisanship… like above; I’ll believe it when I see it…
• The Minnesota recount continues…
• The Bush(whacked) Administration continues to throw around “fuck you’s” to the American people, this time making changes to the Endangered Species Act that would ensure agencies will not have to take global warming into account when assessing risks to plants and animals. National Wildlife Federation’s John Kostyak says the rule would “block federal officials from considering a carbon cap” to preserve polar bear’s habitat… (With each passing day, this administration does something that will take the Obama administration years to correct… and goes to further prove that Bush is a tool)
• And have we mentioned? That we’ve found a perfect metaphor for the political life of Gov. Sarah Palin? Palin took part in a long-standing political tradition of pardoning a Thanksgiving turkey yesterday at a turkey farm in Wasilla. After pardoning the turkey she, and this should be a surprise to ANYONE, decided to hold a presser… and while she was talking, over her left should a few feet behind her, one of the men working on the farm proceeded to well… as ThinkProgress said “Feed a turkey into a bucket.” In other words, the man was slaughtering the turkey… now while I, personally, have no problem with meat, the scene of the man killing the turkey while a clueless politician speaks is sad and pathetic, but at the same time, think about it... a turkey being slaughtered… how is that NOT a perfect metaphor for Palin’s political life???

Sad & pathetic

The vote on what to do with traitor Joe Lieberman is done, and he was sparred everything.

So in other words, he WON’T get his chairmanships stripped away.

He WON’T lose his place in the Democratic caucus.

He WON”T be forced to apologize.

Nothing will happen… so let’s review; he endorses a republican for President.

He criticizes the Democratic candidate for president…

He blindly supports the Iraq War while opposing any and all attempts to create a timeline…

He endorsed a slew of republican congressional candidates and yet, his Democratic peers capitulated to him, voting 42-13, and won’t do a damn thing to him

Sad. And pathetic.

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Lieberman must go, but I’m not holding my breath for THAT to happen…

• Pundits say former President Bill Clinton could be the largest obstacle in Sen. Hillary Clinton nailing down Secretary of State in the Obama Administration as his post-White House business and financial dealings are causing some backroom mumblings. (If we were to look at every former president’s post-presidential dealings, I’m sure we’d find a lot of questionable stuff. His dealings should not interfere with her career – though I know they will. Stay tuned…)


• Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke are on Capitol Hill today... where I suspect they will be raked over the coals about Bailout2008…


• The Senate races in Alaska and Minnesota could be determined any day now…


• President-elect Obama... nothing to really report right now, I just REALLY enjoy typing President-elect Obama... try it, you'll like it.


• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet today with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s son to discuss deepening ties between Washington and Libya… wait, what?


• Over 100 retired generals and admirals called Monday for the “repeal of the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy on gays so they can serve openly.”


• File this under the ‘karma, baby!’ file. The Colorado Independent is reporting today that James D*b*o*’ Focus on the Family will likely be announcing major layoffs this week… did I mention that the layoffs follow the groups spending of more than $600,000 to defeat marriage equality in California? While I would never rejoice over anyone losing their job, you think they could have found better uses for their money than defeating a bill that, being based in Colorado, had little impact on them. I’m just sayin’…


• And have we mentioned? That former Arkansas governor and republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is releasing a book? The book, “Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That’s Bringing Common Sense Back to America,” is being released today and is chock-full of sharp criticism of his fellow republicans, especially those that marred his presidential bid. (oooo, juicy…)

And finally…

In case you haven’t heard, it seems Senate Democrats WILL kowtow to Joe Lieberman tomorrow.

Via Roll Call;

When Senate Democrats meet Tuesday to decide Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (ID-Conn.) fate, leaders are expected to propose that he keep his gavel at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee but lose his Environment and Public Works subcommittee chairmanship.

Senate Democratic sources cautioned that the proposal is intended to serve as a starting point for the discussion over whether Lieberman should be punished for his aggressive criticism of President-elect Barack Obama’s candidacy, as well as his endorsement of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). Those sources said the proposal could change based on what Lieberman says to the Conference and how Senators react to both his explanation for his actions and the proposal itself.

Either way, Senate Democrats are expected to vote on whether to sanction Lieberman for his disloyalty.

Lieberman chairs the Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection subcommittee. Even if he were to lose the gavel, however, he is expected to retain his seniority on the full committee.

Lieberman also chairs the Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland. There had been speculation that he might also lose that chairmanship, but that option appears to be off the table for now.

Taking the subcommittee on global warming away from Lieberman may be seen as a stinging rebuke, given that he used the panel to push himself to the forefront of the climate change debate in the Senate earlier this year.

Starting point??? WTF?

As I said in last week’s ‘Rewind’, “(Lieberman) needs to be stripped of his chairmanship, pure and simple. If that prompts him to caucus with republicans, fine. Let him act like a spoiled brat, it will just push him down further in his home state of Connecticut. […]Strip him, give him something smaller and make him sit in the proverbial corner for 2 more years, allowing him to only be seen and heard when we need him to. Otherwise, let him leave and caucus with the gop, a party that has such serious identify issues now that he’ll be lost in the shuffle and be even more politically insignificant than he is now.” Perhaps a few more Democrats can grow a pair and treat this malcontent the way he treated his party… by screwing him with his pants on.

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Over the weekend…

• Former Democratic Senator Zell Miller is still a conservative tool…
• The Iraqi cabinet voted “overwhelmingly” on Sunday to approve a security agreement that would require coalition forces to withdraw from Iraqi cities by summer 2009 and from the whole country by the end of 2011. Believe it when I see it…
• Count Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) among those Senators – joining Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) – to publicly condemn Joe Lieberman and urge his chairmanship be stripped. (As it should… Lieberman is not, and has not been for a very long time, a Democrat. Some senator’ capitulation to him is mind-boggling, and they should be worried about a voter backlash if they keep him in)
• Thousands turned out in eight countries, 50 states, and 300 cities over the weekend to voice their support of marriage equality…
• President-elect Barack Obama brought the weekly radio address into the 21st century Saturday as he recorded the “Democratic Radio Address” via audio AND video. Odds are high that his weekly radio addresses as president will also be recorded on video and placed on sites like YouTube…
• South Korea President Lee Myung-bak said over the weekend that he would “welcome” and “support” a meeting between President-elect Obama and North Korea’s Kim Jong Il after taking office… the question is, can Jong last that long?

Monday already, son of a…

• As the curtain starts to close on “President” Bush’s presidency (YAY!!), a record number of felons are seeking presidential pardons or commutations, which are causing one of the “largest backlogs” in applications for clemency in a LONG time... including junk-bond king Michael Milken, American-taliban John Walker Lindh, convicted former Congressman Duke Cunningham as well as Edwin Edwards, the former governor of Louisiana that was convicted of racketeering back in 2000. Surprisingly, Scooter Libby did NOT request a pardon, though odds are high that Bush will give it to him since he’s already commuted his sentence. Stay tuned…
• The lines are getting more drawn as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said yesterday that Gov. Palin won’t be the next leader of the Republican party, saying; “I think that she is going to be a significant player. […] But she’s going to be one of 20 or 30 significant players. She’s not going to be the de facto leader.” (ooooo, a battle between Palin and Gingrich… should be juicy, stay tuned)
• President-elect Obama is meeting today with Sen. McCain… supposedly NOT about a cabinet post.
• Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani isn’t ruling out another run at the White House… could this be another entry for 2012? And wouldn’t that be a fun battle between Rudy, Newt and Sarah? The mouth waters at the possibilities…
• Arizona republican Sen. Jon Kyl said the gop would “welcome [Lieberman] with open arms.” (Fine, take him. Only a matter of time before he either turns on you and/or gets booted out of office by a state that no longer likes him…)
• And have we mentioned? That some “experts” believe we could see an Obama baby boom? Per Newsweek; “In the hours and days since Obama’s victory, many of his exhilarated supporters have been, shall we say, in the mood for love. And though it’s too soon to know for sure, experts aren’t ruling out the possibility of an Obama baby boom — the kind of blip in the national birth rate that often follows a seismic event.” (Really… what else could be said after reading something like this, other than… giggity)

And finally…

In case you haven’t heard, Ralph Nader is still a tool.

While Nader has done some commendable things in the past, for the last eights years he has been nothing more than a nuisance with an over-inflated ego.

While there is no question his affect on the 2000 presidential election when he garnered 2.7% (2,882,955) of the vote, his numbers have been falling steadily since then, grabbing a middling 0.38% in 2004 and a virtually nonexistent 0.05% this year.

It proves that Nader needs to hang up his political aspirations. Unfortunately, I doubt that’s going to happen as he continues to overplay his place in politics; “We believe history will treat the Nader/Gonzalez initiative kindly in part because its reading of the necessities of the American people was accurate as was its condemnation of the concentrated powers that have for so long denied them livelihoods of decency, security and voice.”

Yeah… that or you’ll fade into political insignificance like Joe Lieberman.

Hey, a guy can hope can’t he?

The Weekly Rewind

You may notice something in this week’s ‘Rewind’… an abundance of ‘Applauds.’ Scott and I were discussing when this last happened and we realized; never. This has never happened. In the years we’ve been doing this blog we’ve never had a superfluity of applauds while seeing a lack of ‘Heckles.’

Until now.

I’m sure it’s pure coincidence that it comes on the heels of Sen. Obama’s election… uh-huh.

The Weekly Rewind starts… RIGHT NOW!

Mega-Applaud: to all Veterans… for risking your life or giving your life so our lives could be free. We salute you… we thank you… we honor you.

Applaud: to President-elect Barack Obama… cause we can never applaud it too much.

Heckle: to the whole Joe Lieberman fiasco. He needs to be stripped of his chairmanship, pure and simple. If that prompts him to caucus with republicans, fine. Let him act like a spoiled brat, it will just push him down further in his home state of Connecticut. A recent poll, across ALL party lines, shows that he is NOT liked in his home state and will be facing a HUGE re-election fight. Face it; he’s a traitor. He slammed Obama every chance he had… he fellated propped up McCain every chance he had. He gave a speech at the republican national convention for God’s sakes… why the HELL are Senate Democrats capitulating? Strip him, give him something smaller and make him sit in the proverbial corner for 2 more years, allowing him to only be seen and heard when we need him to. Otherwise, let him leave and caucus with the gop, a party that has such serious identify issues now that he’ll be lost in the shuffle and be even more politically insignificant than he is now. Applaud within this heckle to Senator Patrick Leahy for having the convictions (read: balls) to publicly denounce Lieberman while also saying that Lieberman SHOULD have his chairman ship rescinded, making him the first Democrat to publicly come out against him. Hopefully this will open the doors for others, stay tuned.

Applaud: to gop in-fighting. It appears that not ALL republican governors view Palin as the answer in 2012… those feelings weren’t helped earlier this week when, at the Republican Governors Associating meeting, a ‘Palin-centric’ press conference broke out… and was subsequently stopped dead in its tracks. A few of the governors in attendance called the presser “awkward” while another described is as “odd” and “weird” and that her taking center stage; “unfortunately sent a message that she was the de facto leader of the party.” (Oooooo, this could be fun to watch. Someone get the popcorn…)

Heckle: to more droning about the Iraq war from one of the ‘droniest’ Iraq-war apologists, Michael O’Hanlon. Speaking to Politico’s Arena earlier this week, O’Hanlon said that Obama needs a cabinet member who is skeptical of a timeline for withdrawal. (Just like Bush has cabinet members who were skeptical of an Iraq invasion, right Mr. O’Hanlon? Mr. O’Hanlon? Helloooo?? Are you there???)

Applaud: to positive hopes for the future. A new CNN/Opinion Research poll found that a healthy 59% think having Democrats control both the executive and legislative branches will be good for the country while an additional 62% have a “favorable opinion” of the Democratic party and a funny-because-it’s-them 54% have an “unfavorable view” of the republican party… hence the huge gains made on Election Day…let’s hope they continue.

Heckle: to depressing news about unemployment. The amount of people drawing jobless benefits hit a 25-year high this month as the Labor Department reported jobless claims rose by an “unexpectedly steep” 32,000 last week to 516,000, which is the highest since the weeks following 9/11… (If Congress is serious about helping the economy with a lame-duck session, then extending jobless benefits and another stimulus package would be a VERY good idea…)

Applaud: to environmental victories, no matter how small. Brad Johnson of The Wonk Room reported this week that the EPA’s final decision-making board has ruled that a proposed coal-fired power plant in Utah will HAVE to have its carbon dioxide emissions regulated, thus overturning an earlier decision by the EPA that granted the permit without considering the effects on global warming. What makes the ruling art is that the EPA describes the administration’s arguments opposing CO2 regulation as “weak,” “questionable,” “not sustainable,” and “not sufficient.” (Much like Bush himself…)

Heckle: to grossly overstepping their bounds… even after leaving office. It’s believed by MANY in the know that “President” Bush will attempt to block inquiries into his administration after he leaves office, with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) saying; “The Bush administration overstepped in its exertion of executive privilege, and may very well try to continue to shield information from the American people after it leaves office.” (This, naturally, would not surprise me in the least. Bush will continue to claim executive privilege as a means to protect himself, and it will take an act of Congress and the threat of a censure to get him to even consider revealing anything about his eight disastrous years in office)

Applaud: that the ballot-counting in Minnesota and Alaska is starting to lean left… stay tuned as neither of these are close to resolution with the Democratic candidates staying afloat.

Heckle: to more worrisome economic news. Following the US economy’s trip down the toilet, the world’s developed economies have slid into recession and, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, will shrink further in 2009 while also predicting that the U.S. economy will “contract by 0.9%” (Just another example of why President-elect Obama has a tough road ahead of him. If the current administration had listened to economists years ago when they started seeing signs of an economic recession, perhaps this could have been avoided… we’ll never know)

Applaud: that President-elect Obama is planning to quickly reverse some of “President” Bush’s more idiotic moves, such as his misguided limiting of stem cell research. Said Obama transition leader John Podesta; “There’s a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for Congressional action. We need to get off the course that the Bush administration has set.” (Yes… yes we do. God speed Obama Administration, God speed)

Heckle: to dropping the ball… again. While the Bush(whacked) Administration has committed $290 billion of the $700 billion financial bailout package, nothing formal has been done to fill the independent oversight posts that Congress set in place to prevent corruption and government waste… the monitoring report required by lawmakers haven’t been completed either even though the initial deadline has passed… (Way to stay on stop of everything guys… all of you, White House, Senate, House, deserve blame for this… and it needs to be fixed sooner rather than later)

Applaud: to outgoing DNC Chairman Howard Dean. Dean, who will resign his post when his term ends in January, helped shaped the Democratic Party since becoming chairman years ago, and his 50-state strategy, criticized by some Democratic insiders, was a stroke of genius that not only reaped whirlwinds in 2006, but helped the Party make strong gains in this past election.

Heckle: to the continued presence of J*e the P*u*b*r’… 14:57… 14:58… 14:59… 14:59... 14:59… 14:59... 14:59, damn thing seems to be stuck on 14:59…come on damn-it, turn over to 15:00!!

Applaud: to not letting this administration get away with “losing” e-mails. US District Court Judge Henry Kennedy ruled this past week that CREW and the National Security Archive may continue to pursue their legal case against the Bush White House in order to recover millions of possibly ‘missing’ e-mails. While the administration had argued that the courts did not have the power to order them to retrieve any missing e-mails, the judge disagreed. (With the way this administration covers its tracks, this may very well be the only way to charge them with any wrongdoing… stay tuned, this could get interesting)

Applaud: to acting presidential without stepping on the toes of the current president. President-elect Obama’s transition office said this week that it will send two emissaries, former Republican Congressman Jim Leach and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, to meet unofficially with delegations at the upcoming G-20 summit. The duo will meet with and listen to the delegates on the behalf of PE Obama. It’s worth noting that PE Obama will not be in attendance to convey his belief that there is only one president at a time… for some reason, I wouldn’t see Mr. McCain being like that. Or Mr. Bush. (Why do I have a feeling their messages will be greeted more enthusiastically than those from the current administration’s emissaries?)

Applaud: to trying to change the way presidential transitions are done in Washington. Earlier this week PE Obama’s transition head John Podesta unveiled what is being called the “strictest” and “most far-reaching” ethics rules of a presidential transition, ever. While some people (primarily lobbyists that are being shut out) argue that this will leave some experts on the outside looking in, others are hailing the move. Said Podesta of leaving some experts in the cold; “And so be it.” (Nice… let’s hope things continue in this manner)

Applaud>? Heckle? Depends on your POV: to the first ever Mac-using President. (I say if he can ensure that those annoying Mac/PC commercials never air again, he’ll increase his approval ratings ten fold…who’s with me?)

Applaud: to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for going against conservative ideals and saying he might repeal Prop. 8. (Question: does anyone else find it ironic that the group behind getting gay marriage banned in CA in order to protect the ‘sanctity of marriage’ is the same one that at one time allowed men to be married to multiple wives… I’m just askin’)

Applaud: to further proof that not all republicans are ready to embrace Gov. Palin as the party’s leader or presidential candidate for 2012. Since arriving at the Republican Governors Association (RGA) convention this week Palin has been rubbing some people the wrong way with her constant need for attention. They showed their dismay with her by not electing her to any RGA leadership positions. PWNED!

Applaud: to the Secret Service code names for the first and second families: President-elect Obama is Renegade. Michelle Obama is Renaissance, Malia Obama is Radiance and Sasha Obama is Rosebud. Vice President-elect Joe Biden is Celtic and Jill Biden is Capri. (is it just me, or does the Obama family’s names sound like a bad B-movie? Something with Jean Claude Van-damme? Though I have to say ‘Renegade’ is ten times better than Dubya’s ‘Tumbler.’ Which either refers to his penchant for tumbling off of things, or his penchant for drinks served in tumblers. Either one, it’s NOT a catchy name…)

Applaud: to possible feelings of repentance from “President” Bush. In an interview with CNN this past week, Bush said that he regrets some of his statements about the war on terror over the last eight years. The president also opined about PE Obama’s victory, saying it’s “good for our country.” (While I remain somewhat skeptical, it does seem as though the man with no shame is actually experiencing shame… let’s see how long it lasts)
This week’s conservative tool of the week was another toughie…what with Michael Barone and his inane ‘abortion’ comment about Palin… or Dennis Miller’s inane ‘better sex life’ comment about Palin, we had a helluva time choosing one.

But in the end we had to give it to the man who continues to claim he’s a top political strategist, despite the fact he keeps getting everything wrong; Karl Rove.

Whether it’s his call that the republicans would kick ass in the 2006 mid-terms (they didn’t), or that McCain would surprise everyone on Election Day (he didn’t), or that republicans will stage a dramatic comeback in 2010 (they might, though I doubt it), he’s outdone himself this time.

In tomorrow’s Sunday New York Times Magazine, Rove is asked; “Do you see the election results as a repudiation of your politics?” Rove’s response; “Our new president-elect won one and a half points more than George W. Bush won in 2004, and he did so, in great respect, by adopting the methods of the Bush campaign and conducting a vast army of persuasion to identify and get out the vote.”

Sure he did… if by barely you mean doubling the win percentage and getting close to 100 more electoral votes than a sitting president during war time, then yeah, Obama barely did better than Bush.

But if you use your own brain, you would see that Bush won 51% of the vote in 2004 with 62 million votes total and 286 Electoral College votes. Obama won with 53% of the vote, more than seven percentage points ahead of McCain, with 66.6 million votes and 365 Electoral College votes.

I’m not a mathematical genius, but that seems like a HUGE gap. Besides, Bush WAS an incumbent president in war time, and if even one state changed to blue, he would have lost… which I consider to be a serious indictment of Bush AND Rove. And to spin Obama’s victory as anything but a significant electorate mandate is just typical republican obfuscation.

And because of that, Karl Rove is our conservative Tool… of the Week.

Take ‘em as you will.

And finally…

In case you hadn’t heard, French President Sarkozy has managed to put some kind of positive spin on Bush’s foreign policy… as a deterrent for other foreign leaders.

Back on August 12th, Mr. Sarkozy told then Russian President Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia’s Government. Naturally Mr. Putin was unconcerned by international reaction and said; “I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls. […] The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”

To which Mr. Sarkozy replied; “Yes but do you want to end up like Bush?”

After pondering that statement for a moment, Mr. Putin reportedly said; “Ah — you have scored a point there.”

Nice…And there ya go, one positive aspect of the Bush(whacked) Administration’s foreign policy: if you want a foreign leader to behave, ask them if they want to end up like “President” Bush.

That’ll get ‘em in line…

The Palin Factor

As I mentioned in today’s ‘Daily’, Gov. Palin just will NOT go away…

And that could be excellent news for us.

It’s becoming obvious that battle lines are being drawn within the republican party; those who see Palin as the answer for 2012 and those that see her as the antithesis for 2012, and each side is getting more and more vocal.

Now it seems the more intelligent GOP operatives and other future Presidential contenders see the true state of their party, their ideals and their organization and are rapidly seeing that an Obama presidency might virtually be assured of 2 terms and that anyone they run in 2012 is doomed to fail.

Herein enters Sarah Palin;

A strategist for a rival potential presidential rival e-mails to express amusement with Gov. Sarah Palin's come one, come all PR strategy: “Fine with us. Let her be the sacrificial lamb for 2012.” Which means: a lot of the folks who you'd think are angling to run in 2012 are certainly preparing to do so, but they're looking to and thinking about 2016....

So is this accurate? Are the republicans actually looking past 2012 to 2016?

Let’s think about the logic behind that… as the battle lines start to get a bit clearer within the republican party there starts a movement to have Palin increase her political profile over the next few years… but one would think, if they were truly serious about her as a contender, that someone would gently pull her aside right now, tell her to stop talking for a while, fade away for a few months and try to accomplish something concrete in hopes of polishing her resume.

But it’s not happening. Instead, people are allowing her to go out and speak her mind whenever she wants, and, in turn, has started to alienate many people, not only some in the inner workings of the RNC but also the American electorate, and in doing so is starting to lose her alleged reputation as a so-called maverick and is gaining a new reputation of being a self-serving tool with a large sense of entitlement.

Most of the time, after a campaign loss, a candidate will quietly slink off in order to power down, do some self-assessment and figure out what to do.

Palin hasn’t done that… and if she hopes to have any political future other than that of being a laughingstock or a punchline, then she should probably shut her mouth, go back to Alaska and actually, I don’t know, govern. If not… if she decided to stay in the spotlight, grabbing any spotlight or interview at the drop of a hat, her shtick will get old VERY quick.

Of course I have NO problem with that and hope she sticks around, making the odds for re-election in 2012 even greater.

Stay tuned.

The Friday ‘BushWhack’ing

TGIFF...

• The latest rumors about President-elect Obama’s cabinet have Sen. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State… (Interesting possibility, and not entirely a bad idea either…)
• Just in case you didn’t know, there are a LOT of expectations for an Obama Administration… well duhhhhhhhhh
• Gov. Palin will not go away…
• Neither will ACORN…
• And speaking of people that won’t go away… J*e the P*u*b*r (14:57… 14:58… 14:59…) is now getting his share of the blame for the McCain campaign failure. Republican Governor, and potential McCain running mate, Tim Pawlenty criticizied the McCain campaign for their use of J*e the P*u*b*r, saying they used him as a “symbol” with no real substance behind it… much like Palin.
• Dennis Miller continues to climb down the ladder of significance as he said on the 'O’R*i*l* Factor' this week that Liberal women hate Palin because “she has a great sex life.” (No… as I’ve said many, many times, it’s because she an inexperienced, know-nothing hack…)
• And have we mentioned? That Sen. McCain will be meeting with President-elect Obama Monday in Chicago? A press release from the Obama transition office reads; “It’s well known that they share an important belief that Americans want and deserve a more effective and efficient government, and will discuss ways to work together to make that a reality. They will be joined in the meeting by Senator Lindsey Graham and Congressman Rahm Emanuel.” (With the graciousness that McCain conceded, it’s not a surprise that the two of them are meeting, despite the contentiousness seen on the campaign. If McCain is, as I suspect, reverting back to his former self, having his ear might be beneficial for PE Obama. Then again, it could backfire like choosing an inexperienced, not-ready-for-the-national-stage, egotist governor as running mate… I’m just sayin’…)

And finally…

In case you hadn’t heard, President-elect Obama released a statement today announcing his resignation from the US Senate effective Sunday, November 16, 2008;

It has been one of the highest honors and privileges of my life to have served the people of Illinois in the United States Senate. In a state that represents the crossroads of a nation, I have met so many men and women who’ve taken different journeys, but hold common hopes for their children’s future. It is these Illinois families and their stories that will stay with me as I leave the United States Senate and begin the hard task of fulfilling the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans as our nation’s next President.

· The Senate Office will remain open for a period of time, but no longer than 60 days after the President-elect's resignation from the Senate, in that time, the staff will be archiving the Senate documents for the Presidential library and contacting constituents to inform them as to how any open casework will need to be handled.

So you know the people of Illinois WILL continue to be served as casework will be handled so as to ensure constituents receive the assistance they need, but that hasn’t stopped some people making a fuss about doing him resigning so many days before the inauguration, arguing that he should be staying in the Senate so he can help with the auto industry bailout.
Meh.

The bailout will or will not happen regardless of Obama’s status as Senator… and in resigning now he has the ability to focus on the transition, and due to the myriad of factors facing the nation right now, a smooth transition is VERY important.

Now the onus falls onto Illinois Governor Rod “George Ryan II” Blagojevich to select a replacement for the vacated seat before the end of the year.

Stay tuned.

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

TBWA is disappointed we didn’t get the COS post for VP-elect Joe Biden.

• CNN asks; “Can the GOP win back Latino Voters?” No… no they can not.
• Gov. Palin is proud of President-elect Obama and prays for him, so he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
• Former republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul wrote an Op-ed for CNN and says the “GOP should ask why U.S. is on the wrong track.” (While, at times, Paul seems to be nuttier than a squirrel’s cheeks in October, there are times when he hits the nail on the head. This is one of those times. Paul is an astute DC observer, and correctly bemoans the fact the republican party SHOULD have addressed their future in 2000 when they gained control of the White House, Senate and House AND should be asking where the nation is heading and not just their party… but they didn’t, and they aren’t… and now it’s all coming back to bite them on the ass. I have no doubt the party will, unfortunately, gain back some of its luster, I think it will take a while to not only agree on a party strategy – there’s already in-fighting about what course to take – but to convince voters to trust them again to do what is best for the nation and NOT themselves. In the meantime, it should make for some interesting theater)
• The media continues to talk about the things that will shape President-elect Obama’s administration and presidential strategy… just kidding, they continue to report about what kind of dog the First Family should get… I weep for the traditional media.
• Darfur activist John Prendergast and his organization ENOUGH are urging President-elect Obama to pay early attention to the crisis in Darfur…
• Just when you thought ACORN was out of the news-cycle, it makes a comeback after the Catholic Church cut funding for the organization due to “registration fraud complaints” and the fact the founder’s brother embezzled nearly $1 million dollars from the organization. (This story is not going to go away and when it’s all said and done, someone will be in jail I think…)
• The Democratic Party’s fellating of Joe Lieberman continues…
• After helping financial institutions afford luxury vacations for their executives, the Federal Government is now thinking about helping out the automotive industry…
• And have we mentioned? That Vice President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to meet the dark prince today? Biden is slated to meet current VP Dick “President Darth” Cheney today at the Vice Presidential residence on the Naval Observatory grounds. Oh to be a fly on the wall for this meeting… remember, Biden once rightfully called Cheney “the most dangerous vice president we've had probably” in the history of the United States. While the Observatory would be Biden’s first home in DC, he’s commuted from Delaware throughout the course of his Senate career, I do have some advice to the VP-elect; first fumigate the place as you have no idea where Cheney’s been. Second, check the entire premises for recording and/or listening devices. Third, tear the place apart so you can find where Cheney hid the Bill of Rights…

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

TBWA is available for DNC Chairman… as well as baptisms, bar mitzvahs, and weddings.

• Note to party Democrats: Joe Lieberman has not been a Democrat or a Progressive in months and needs to be shut out of his chairmanship AND the Democratic caucus, if for no other reason than to send a message that Dems won’t be bullied or pushed around. If we allow him to stay as Chairman, he wins… and he will lord it over the party every chance he gets… he was thisclose to being the republican party’s VP candidate for God’s sakes! What more do you need???
• It seems that “President” Bush is acting a tad repentant lately. In an interview with CNN, Bush says that he regrets some of his statements about the war on terror over the last eight years and now wishes (read: rues) that he wouldn’t have spoken in front of the “Mission Accomplished” banner. He also said that President-elect Obama’s election victory is “good for our country.” (Um… okay? Is it possible that the man with no shame is actually experiencing shame? Who would have thunk it?)
• CNN Headline that sends shivers down my spine; “President Palin…” (AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!)
• Sen. McCain surfaced yesterday, appearing on ‘The Tonight Show’ and trying to sell the idea he doesn’t regret selecting Palin as his running mate... of course you don’t John, and I don’t regret taking Ballroom Dance in college either; it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form.
• President-elect Obama (I never tire of writing that), has suggested he might rollback a plethora of Bush’s signing-statement policies that would lift restrictions on stem-cell research, abortion and drilling… (God speed Mr. Obama, God speed)
• CNN’s Campbell Brown makes an absolutely excellent point in her latest eColumn, saying that US Veterans who are disabled should not have to fight for benefits. (The fact that this matter even has to be addressed is shameful. Without them, we would not possess the freedom we all enjoy and we should make it easy for them to receive benefits…)
• Due to a variety of economic factors, the possibility of a lame-duck session of Congress is increasing. Stay tuned…
• In case you didn’t know, the gop is facing new challenges now, and it’s unlikely who will lead the party and what the party’s ideology will be. Will it revert to the things that the party was founded on, which helped lead to their decisive losses last week? Or will it forge new paths and estrange themselves from their base? Stay tuned… should be fun to watch.
• And have we mentioned? That U.S. News and World Report’s Michael Barone is a fucking moron? Speaking to a group of Academics yesterday in Chicago, he made the insulting, stupid and outrageous claim that the “liberal media attacked” Gov. Palin during the presidential campaign because “she did not abort her Down syndrome baby.” While he later backtracked and claimed he was joking, he’s still getting raked over the coals… as he should. Note to Barone; Liberals attacked Palin because she’s an idiot who had no business being on a national ticket… and to claim that she was criticized because of her baby is a new low for a conservative and he should not only lose his job, but he should be forced to make a public apology to the media, to Liberals, to anyone with a child with Down’s syndrome, to Ms. Palin, AND to the American public.

And finally…

In case you hadn’t heard, the folks at conservative blog P*w*r L*n* are mouth-breathing, Kool-aid drinking morons.

Consider this (the emphasis’s are all mine);

Obama thinks he is a good talker, but he is often undisciplined when he speaks. He needs to understand that as President, his words will be scrutinized and will have impact whether he intends it or not. In this regard, President Bush is an excellent model; Obama should take a lesson from his example. Bush never gets sloppy when he is speaking publicly. He chooses his words with care and precision, which is why his style sometimes seems halting. In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed. If Obama doesn't raise his standards, he will exceed Bush's total before he is inaugurated.

Bush is an excellent model for good public speaking?? Bush never gets sloppy when speaking??? Whatever this columnist is smoking, I want some… because it apparently has transcendent qualities that allows for people to see things through such thick rose-colored glasses that one needs a forklift to put them on.

Speaking as a public speaking specialist, Bush is – hands down – one of THE WORST public speaking president’s in the modern age. His articulation and enunciation are shoddy… his delivery is monotone… his choice of words is suspect… and he mispronounces the simplest of words, and to claim otherwise shows that the author of this post (whom I refuse to cite lest I give him ore publicity) is truly a lemming ready to go over the cliff with Bush’s approval numbers.

Have a nice trip.

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Note to the Obama campaign, TBWA is available for any positions you may have available. And we’re cheap.

• Happy Veteran’s Day to all… and from TBWA; THANK YOU!
• More details are coming out about yesterday’s meeting between “President” Bush and President-elect Barack Obama. Not only did the two talk in the Oval Office for over an hour, Mr. Bush also showed Mr. Obama the Situation Room. In a statement, Obama-Biden transition spokesperson Stephanie Cutter said the two “had a productive and friendly meeting,” that include discussions about the importance of working together throughout the transition due to the nation current economic and security challenges… (Bush’s appearance to be so opening and inviting is throwing some people off – me included – but it also signals, I think, just how ready Bush is to be done with his presidency. Say what you will about him – I could say plenty – but you have to admit that his half-assed governing and the current US situation HAVE to be taking a toll on him…)
• With a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic majority in both the House and Senate, the Dems are looking ahead to a very ambitious agenda in the coming years… stay tuned.
• Speaking of “President” Bush, the latest CNN/Opinion Research Poll gives him a 76% disapproval rating and a 16% think the country is headed in the wrong direction… Ouch.
• DNC Chairman Howard Dean will be stepping down from his position when his term ends this January. According to Sam Stein of Huffington Post, rumors are swirling that Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri will be his successor. (I, personally, think Ms. McCaskill can do better as a Senator where she’s forging some impressive ground. Having said that, I’m not sure who else would be a possibility)
• Not only is Washington DC “abuzz” about the Obama’s, but tickets for his inauguration are going for $20,000 a pop…
• And have we mentioned? That Gov. Palin is biting the hands that feed her? After being thrown under the bus by the McCain campaign, she’s now throwing “President” Bush under the bus and blaming his record on the McCain campaign’s loss… (Yeah… while that is partially the reason, the ineptitude of the McCain campaign – such as choosing her as VP – contributed heavily to their loss as well. Ms. Palin’s ego continues to grow and should be massive by the time she joins Newt Gingrich on the 2012 ticket…)

To all that risked their lives

so ours could be free.

Happy Veteran's Day...

The Monday 'BushWhack'ing

Over the weekend:

• Rumors started swirling that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich would be the republican’s savior in 2012… how I wrote this sentence without laughing my ass off is anyone’s guess…
• Democrats are jockeying for Obama cabinet positions… rather obvious, isn’t it?
• New York Times columnist David Brooks said the gop is in a “world of pain” right now and “it’s just a circular firing squad with everybody attacking each other and no coherent belief system, no leaders. […] You got half the party waiting for Sarah Palin to come rescue them. The other half waiting for Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana governor, to come rescue them. But no set of beliefs, really a decayed conservative infrastructure. It’s just a world of pain.” (Ouch… and did we mention Brooks is a conservative?)

It’s Monday…

• President-elect Barack Obama (I never tire of writing that) will visit “President” Bush today in the White House. Bush is expected to discuss the economy, what to expect from life in the White House, and his collection of “Where’s Waldo” books…
• Obama will most likely keep on a trio of Bush appointees to help “tackle the country’s most serious challenges.” The three; Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Michael Mullen and FBI director Robert Mueller, would most likely stay in their current position for at least the first year or two of an Obama administration. (Probably not a bad idea… but one that COULD blow up in his face. We’ll see…)
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Joe Lieberman can still help the Democratic party…
• And have we mentioned? That Brit Hume, formerly of Fox “News”, is not good? Speaking to the Miami Herald’s Glenn Garvin, Hume said that when people look back at Bush’s presidency, they’ll “be a lot kinder to this president than the current scribes are being. […] It’s really turned out to be a very consequential presidency.” Riiiight… but Hume wasn’t done when he added that Bush has put America on an “amazing” foreign policy path... (Um… okay. And what color is the sky in your world Brit?)

The Weekly Rewind: Post Election Day Edition

Applaud: to President Elect Barack Obama. Honestly, does anything else really need to be said this week?

And finally…

In case you hadn’t heard, since we have a ‘special’ Weekly Rewind appearing tomorrow, we decided to branch our CTotW to a separate post… and here it is.

Our search for tool of the week was, once again, a massive undertaking following President-elect Obama’s landslide victory Tuesday… but after scouring the intertubes, we found 2 equally deserving winners: Glenn Beck and Robert Novak.

First, Beck. On the same day that right-wing blog Red State launched “Project Leper,” in an attempt to professionally punish McCain staffers that, according to Red State’s Erick Erickson, wronged Gov. Palin (wronged? What the hell is this, the old west?), Erikson told Glenn Beck that she was “the best thing that happened” to the McCain campaign, to which Beck agreed, saying many conservatives told him they supported McCain in hopes he would die in office and elevate Palin into the presidency.

Shows you how stupid and partisan-blind these people are… hoping that Palin, THE most unqualified person to run for VP, would become president is not only an insult to the citizens of this country, but would have been extremely dangerous. But here these two are, hoping that she would have become president just because she’s a conservative’s wetdream come true.

The second CTOTW is none other than eternal putz Robert “Whack ‘em” Novak.

We knew, whatever the margin of victory was Tuesday, that conservatives would be spinning their wheels to maintain the illusion that it was as large victory as common sense says.

One such putz is right-wing pundit, and crappy driver, Robert Novak.

Back in 2004 when “President” Bush inexplicably won re-election and spoke of his so-called “political capital”, Novak couldn’t wait to get down on his knees to christen Bush’s victory as proof of a conservative mandate. When asked in a CNN interview if 51% of the vote was really a mandate, Novak replied “Of course it is. It’s a 3.5 million vote margin.”

So color people confused when Novak says that President-elect Obama’s popular vote margin of 7,401,289 (which is MORE than twice Bush’s 04 vote margin) and his staggering electoral vote margin (63 more than Bush ’04) does NOT make a mandate.

That’s right, you heard me… it DOESN’T make a mandate… ostensibly because that would require Novak using his own brain and NOT following the other lemmings off the gop cliff.

And because of their hate-mongering and their inability to accept reality respectively, Beck and Novak are our conservative Tools… of the Week.

And we're off!

President-elect Barack Obama made his first public speech since cruising to his landslide victory over Sen. McCain Tuesday… vowing to make the restoration of the nation's economic equilibrium as a priority of his administration.

PE Obama looked assured and calm… sounding witty and authoritative, displaying great confidence while increasing the gravitas that befits his new position… I, as I’m sure others, had forgotten that a president is supposed to be intelligent, articulate and commanding… how refreshing to have one after all these years of… well… you know who.

Oh… and he didn’t call on Fox “News” once.

This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Full transcript can be READ HERE… video embed will be up shortly...

UPDATE: Herein lies the video

Two weeks? Try two days! The Throwing Sarah Palin Under the Bus Story: Part II-B

Just when you thought the Sarah Palin affair was done… something else pops up…

You remember that (largely unauthorized) spending spree that Palin embarked on shortly after coming aboard the campaign?

Well… turns out that she announced in the past that she would no longer be wearing the expensive clothing and was “not taking them with me.”

Funny thing… the clothes have disappeared and it seems that a few items did make it back to Alaska with her.

Now the gop’s attorneys are on their way to reclaim them.

On to be a fly on the wall for that conversation…

Two weeks? Try two days! The Throwing Sarah Palin Under the Bus Story: Part II

The throwing Palin under the bus tour continues… and today Palin herself fires back while CNN’s Campbell Brown throws out what everyone (at least Scott & I) has been thinking.

Last week, one of Sen. McCain’s most loyal and longest-serving confidants, Randy Scheunemann, was fired… and while an official reason was never given, now that the campaign is over, the rumors are starting to swirl.

Three senior McCain advisers told CNN that he was fired for “trashing” the campaign staff, adding that campaign manager Rick Davis fired Scheunemann after determining that he had been in direct contact with journalists and was spreading “disinformation” about various campaign aides.

The bigger shock was that Scheunemann, who became close to Palin (eewwwwwwwww) during debate prep, was “positioning himself with Palin” (ewwwwwwww again) at the expense of the McCain campaign’s message.

Meaning he was propping up Palin and throwing McCain and his campaign under the… well, you know…

After being battered by the McCain campaign for two days, Palin is now shooting back, with her spokeswoman calling the charges being circulated by former campaign aides “sickening” and Palin herself saying that the advisers spreading the rumors were ‘small, evidently bitter’ people.


And CNN’s Campbell Brown raised an excellent point yesterday… rebuking the McCain aides that had been telling the stories about Palin to anyone that would listen.

Said Brown; “To those McCain aides who say she is the reason they lost this election… can I please remind you of one thing: you picked her. You are the ones who supposedly vetted her, and then told the American people she was qualified for the job. You are the ones who after meeting her a couple of times, told us she was ready to be just one heartbeat away from the Presidency. … If Sarah Palin is the reason some voters chose Barack Obama, that is no one’s fault but your own. […] John McCain, as he so graciously said himself the other night, lost this election. He lost it with your help, your advice, your guidance, and yes, your running mate recommendations. […] And that is crystal clear to everyone, no matter how hard you try to blame Sarah Palin or anyone else.”

Ms. Brown is right as Palin did the campaign no favors other than offer some sizzle and pop in the days immediately following her roll-out… but alas, the sizzle died down and all that was left was style and NO substance.

Granted, one could argue that the McCain campaign did not truly pick Palin and that her selection was more-so the choice of the party and Karl Rove.

Having said that… the buck DOES stop at the top as it’s the captain of the ship who is ultimately responsible for everything that happens on it, and it still doesn’t take away from the fact that the entire McCain campaign went along with her selection and spun lied about her qualifications and ability to lead.

And yet there seems to be a disconnect here as many republican spin doctors were trying to foist Palin onto the American public even though they knew she was grossly unqualified for the job. This wasn’t about putting ‘Country First’ this was a marketing gimmick, pure and simple.

Think about it; why would anyone, regardless of political or religious ideology, want to do this?

Easy… it all comes down to winning.

How a person can be a drag on a ticket but in the same sentence be labeled as the future of the party is anyone’s guess… and with Palin now trying to go sound-bite for sound-bite with McCain’s people, it’s doubtful the accusations and sniping, or for that matter her ascension, are over as each side tries to get the last word in, so expect more to happen in the days, weeks, months and possibly even years ahead.

The Friday ‘BushWhack’ing

TGIFF…

• The Labor Department released its unemployment numbers today that show the rate of unemployment rose from 6.1% in September to 6.5% , marking the highest unemployment rate since March 1994…
• CNN headline that makes me giddy; “Lieberman may have day of reckoning with Democrats.” (Giggity)
• Congressman Rahm Emanuel has accepted President-elect Obama’s offer to become his COS… a move that is drawing sharp criticism from conservatives who say he’s too much of a partisan pitbull. One of those criticizing was former Bush COS Karl Rove… the irony is SO thick, yet I doubt one conservative can see that.
• Expect more Obama administration picks as soon as today…
• Remember how I said that Gov. Palin would probably start sniping at Sen. McCain after his campaign tried to throw her under the bus? Well… it’s started, get the popcorn, this should be entertaining…
• This should give EVERYONE pause as CNN learned recently that computers at the headquarters of the Obama and McCain campaigns were hacked earlier this year by a “foreign entity” that downloaded a “serious amount” of files… the FBI is investigating the incident but is refusing to release any details about the hacking. (This is staggering news, yet not entirely surprising in this day and age…)
• Sen. Jim DeMint (r-SC) is upset with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s toleration of convicted felon Ted Stevens and is “pushing his party’s leadership to expel” Stevens during this month’s ‘lame duck’ session… (Wow… when THE most conservative member of your party urges the expulsion of Stevens, you can get a better idea of just how badly the gop is damaged. The question remains; will the party rally around Stevens – thus risking further alienation of the public – or kick him out? Stay tuned)
• And have we mentioned? That presidential historians are, again, weighing in on “President” Bush’s presidency? With some of them labeling his time in office as ‘battered’, ‘incompetent’ and ‘unlucky’, a few suggest that his legacy could end up with a better reputation down the road, ala Harry Truman who, at varying points in his presidency, earned some of the highest and yet also some of the lowest public approval ratings in history, (87% approval in June 1945 compared to 23% in January 1952). Some of the things that the historians chalk up as ‘unlucky’ (wrong place, wrong time) are direct consequences of him and his administration’s policies – the economy being the largest. It will be interesting to see how Bush’s legacy ages, but I doubt that his presidency will ever be considered more than ‘middling.’