Thought for the Day

It's funny... I don't ever remember Republicans being worried about my health before.....
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Way too early, but..... Maverick!

Treat this as one poll, way, way out in front of any election, etc, BUT, take a look at this.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely 2010 Republican Primary voters in Arizona finds the longtime incumbent (John McCain) in a virtual tie with potential challenger J.D. Hayworth. McCain earns 45% of the vote, while Hayworth picks up 43%.

Do you appreciate the irony, that McCain, a man proud of his self proclaimed "separation from his party", could be taken down by this right wing primary surge brought on in good part by his "maverick" choice of Sarah Palin as his VP nominee?

Man. That would be delicious.

Thinking out loud on the "Tea Partiers"

You can rile up a bunch of crazies to shout nonsense at townhalls, but trying to turn those crazies into a long term self structured movement is a difficult proposition at best.

I think, in the end, the formal "tea party" movement will mostly have power as it's invoked historically by those seeking to claim their "power" to reinforce their own agendas, ("Remember the crowds/townhalls that I can claim support my position, Chris Matthews?") but those competing claims of identity are bound to tear the "movement" apart.

I have a hunch the tea party "movement" will end up being a PO box owned by FreedomWorks.

On the other hand, Dick Armey did get his mailing list and rocketed up the the consultant power list. Only a fool of a Republican centrist candidate wouldn't pay Armey a little "protection" consulting fee, or do the due diligence of publicly massaging the Sarah Palin's even though they probably think they're full of crap.

There have been alot of winners through the tea party summer, but the tea partiers themselves are not one of them.

Quote

"I don't care about the Constitution!"

-- Bill O'Reilly, on Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try five Gitmo detainees in NYC.

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Just so weird

Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing dozens of people in order to sell their fat and tissue for cosmetic (companies) in Europe....

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Palin supporters

I've been avoiding the Palin coverage, but this makes me wonder whether I should have been watching.

I think it's time for my favorite Republican game....

Just as a distraction from the pointless media coverage, take a minute when they show the crowds at the Palin appearances to play "find the black person." (I saw one in the video above.)

Speaking seriously, she's not explicitly racist or pushing racial issues, but I don't think I've ever seen whiter audiences for any major national political candidate in the modern era. Make of that what you will.

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John McCain nears his breaking point on Palin-palooza.

"There's been a lot of dust flying around in the last few days and I just wanted to mention that I have the highest regard for Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace and the rest of the team ... and I appreciated all the hard work and everything they did to help the campaign," he said.

"I think it's just time to move on," he said.

And, when questioned on Palin, I've got to admit I'm intrigued by the use of the word "still."

"I'm still really proud of her and the campaign she ran and I think it's pretty obvious that she has a substantial base and interest out there," McCain said.

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5 more years of Karzai....

(AP) Afghan president sworn in to second 5-year term.

How old is he?

Sen. Robert Byrd was elected Senator three years before Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Picture of the Day

The line for Sarah Palin's book signing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Word is, people were lined up outside at 5 AM for a midday appearance.

Good point.

TPM reprints a reader comment.

"How is it that it will take 'decades' for history to judge the Bush administration yet we know already that the Obama administration is a failure?"

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Clampnig down on foreign policy leaks

About a week ago, I wrote a post going off on all the leaking on the Afghanistan deliberation, saying that such policy/debate pushing "leaks" would undermine Obama's foreign policy cred around the world.

Since that Eikenberry "leak" that prompted my post, Sec Def Bill Gates issued public statements warning the military structure that "leaking" of this sort was a firing offense.

Now, in Beijing, Obama gives an interview to CBS' Chip Reid which reinforces the position.

THE PRESIDENT: “I think I am angrier than Bob Gates about it, partly because we have these deliberations in the Situation Room for a reason – because we are making decisions that are life-and-death, that affect how our troops will be able to operate in a theater of war. For people to be releasing information during the course of deliberation -- where we haven’t made final decisions yet -- I think is not appropriate.”

CHIP REID: “Firing offense??”

THE PRESIDENT: “Absolutely"

Let's see if that shuts it down.

"Up or down vote"

Dana Milbank minces on the Senate Republicans now filibustering Obama's judicial nominees after their famous summer of "up or down vote" over the Bush nominees.

This blog sucks....

Every few months or so, I go through a phase like this, where I can't really find a story stream that lights me up, and I start to post alot less. If history is any guide, this will probably last a couple days.

Please be patient with me. Normal service will resume soon.

Day off

I'm not in a real bloggy mood today. Maybe later....

Thought for the Day - 2

Whatever Sarah Palin says on Oprah is more important than healthcare, the climate change bill, or the Afghan war strategy.
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Thought for the Day

Sarah Palin would be getting less press if she'd won the election...
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Quote

Bill O'Reilly, the most watched "news" figure on cable, asks guest Lou Dobbs,

"Barack Obama, is he the devil?"

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Quote - Casually burning effigies in the South

From the organizer of the Virginia tea partiers who were going to burn local Rep. Rep. Tom Perriello and Nancy Pelosi in effigy.

“I still would like to do it,” Coleman said, “but it’s still up in the air at this point. We’ve already started stacking firewood and building the effigy …we will have a bonfire. Burning someone in effigy was just gonna be part of it.”

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If I can't have you, no one will....

How much cash are Republicans going to waste on their primary infighting? How much lasting damage will they inflict on the eventual winners?

Counter narrative

I've been writing with the unstated assumption that Americans would reject the crazy right positions if there were seriously brought into a campaign, but this morning I had this creeping uneasiness as I remembered that sometimes Americans (especially those who don't pay too close attention) prefer certainty in their candidates above anything else.

However, as a counter argument, a new ABC/WaPo poll says that 60% of Americans would "definitely not vote for Sarah Palin, and 60% also say she's not qualified, while she still carries a whopping 76% approval among Republicans. So, she could win a primary, but get blown out in the general.

She's just one highly elaborated example, but it does return my sense of comfort to see crazy so thoroughly rejected.

Later: Walter Shapiro looks at the GOP 2012 primary calendar and sees Palin very plausibly walking through as nominee. (On the counter side, Palin has historically not been willing to do the work or organization necessary.)

Paraphrase

The host of "Wait, wait don't tell me" took a nasty shot at Joe Lieberman this weekend.

Roughly, "The surest way to get Joe Lieberman's vote on healthcare is to figure out way to let him think he's stabbing someone in the back."

It ain't over, Sarah

Palin releases her book, and McCain aides reach into their files for emails (that they've been saving!) to leverage back.

Also, Nicole Wallace uses phrases like "completely false" and "didn't have to make stuff up." Steve Schmidt says "total fiction." John Weaver calls the book "petty and pathetic."

It's truly astounding that the Palin/McCain aides feud has gone on for an entire year in public.

A man out of time

Poor Manny Pacquiao, a true boxing great who arose after no one cared about boxing anymore.

Picture of the Day

(Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton greets students at Malanday National High School at Marikina city, east of Manila, Philippines, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez))