This is definitely one of the coolest videos I've ever seen. An extremely well organized lip-synch in one smooth take.
[H/T to Recon]
Random YouTubery Daily Motionry: One Take
This is definitely one of the coolest videos I've ever seen. An extremely well organized lip-synch in one smooth take.
[H/T to Recon]
Is it just me…
…or do you find yourself increasingly reading stories about the rightwing's scare tactics, and thinking, "If only!"
I just read this piece at PageOneQ about a GOP mailer in NC claiming that Democratic candidate Kay Hagan, who's challenging Sen. Elizabeth Dole, will advance a "radical homosexual agenda" (that old canard!) including "same-sex marriage, removing 'Under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance, and forcing the Boy Scouts to accept gay and atheist troop leaders."
If only!
And I keep hearing (as do we all) that Barack Obama will be a crazy liberal who, if elected, will turn America into a socialist utopia, redistributing wealth toward a robust social safety net including universal healthcare, where children will be taught comprehensive sex education, contraceptives will flow like water, abortions will be affordable and accessible, institutional racism will be eradicated, people will be lifted from poverty, LGBTQIs will serve openly in the military, same-sex marriage will be legal, feminism will be taught in schools, and gay pink unicorns will be fucking in the streets!
If only.
From your worst nightmares to Maude's ears, conservative fearmongers.
Mayberry & Milwaukee* go for Obama
Pretend There is a Clever Crafting Pun Here
by Shaker Car
Calling all crafty Shakers! Tuesday's QotD spawned an idea regarding lovey snuggly comfort items and the fabulous community that has grown up here at Shakesville. There are many, many regulars here, some commenting often, some not, but enough that we know a lot about each other; people share their highs, their lows, their in-betweens. In that thread an idea was formulated to come together and offer Shakers a tangible cuddly object when they might need that little extra boost to remind them that there's an online community that cares about them, and there seemed to be a lot of interest in it.
My idea is to create little lap blankets that are a mishmash of whatever people want to do in a 7x7 space, be it yarn, fabric, whatever, and once a month or so send one to a Shaker in need of a pick-me-up. There are a few issues to iron out (there's a pun!), but in the meantime I'm trying to get people together and gauge (ha! another pun!) interest. Even if this particular idea turns out not to work, there is also the possibility of getting craft makers and craft wanters together in other mutually beneficial ways. If you have any interest in contributing ideas or projects, please email me at carShaker(at)gmail(dot)com. Indication of interest will not be construed as signing an ironclad contract to provide material. :)
If you're not really interested in this particularly but like the idea of making things for someone else in need, please check out Sewing Charity, a list of charities based on craftmaking. They range from soft hats to cancer patients to blankets for bereaved parents to stuffed toys for disaster victims to just about anything you could think of.
Country Elections First
Remember, way back in April, when the McCain campaign was trumpeting that Obama was being supported by Hamas?
In an interview with ABC radio, Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousef said:Well... whoopsie."Actually, we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will [win] the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy, great man with great principle.Almost instantaneously, the McCain campaign sent a fundraising email titled "Hamas Weighs In On U.S. Presidential Election." Joe Lieberman, too, took up the charge. And on April 25, McCain himself blasted Obama:
We like Mr. Obama and we hope he will win the election. He has a vision to change America.""I think it is very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States...I think that the people should understand that I will be Hamas' worst nightmare.
"I never expect for the leader of Hamas...to say that he wants me as president of the United States. I think it is very clear...why they would not want me to be president of the United States, so if Senator Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly."
Back in April, John McCain and his allies taunted Barack Obama as the choice of Hamas in the wake of remarks by a spokesman for that organization. Now with the news that Al Qaeda web sites are seemingly backing McCain for President, the Republican might want to reconsider that line of attack. And to be sure, John McCain should steer clear of touting "Osama the Terrorist" at his rallies.All of this leads to what will probably be my favorite post headline in this entire campaign:
As the Washington Post detailed Wednesday, Al Qaeda cadres see a McCain as the best bet to perpetuate the policies of President Bush they see bankrupting the United States and the West:"Al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election," said a commentary posted Monday on the extremist Web site al-Hesbah, which is closely linked to the terrorist group. It said the Arizona Republican would continue the "failing march of his predecessor," President Bush...
...It further suggested that a terrorist strike might swing the election to McCain and guarantee an expansion of U.S. military commitments in the Islamic world.
"It will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaeda," said the posting, attributed to Muhammad Haafid, a longtime contributor to the password-protected site. "Al-Qaeda then will succeed in exhausting America."
McCain Advisers Freaked Out by Al Qaeda Preference for McCain
I just got off a conference call held by the McCain campaign to deny that Al Qaeda, contrary to reports in the AP and the Washington Post, is rooting for their man. To describe the call as panicked would be an understatement.Actually, for those of us that have watched the Bush administration blunder and scheme their way into handing Al Qaeda exactly what they want while ignoring every warning, this isn't ludicrous, it's obvious. Seriously, if your campaign actually is concerned with "Country First," and genuinely does want to protect America from terrorists, shouldn't this endorsement concern you? When Al Qaeda is supporting you and stating that your policies will accomplish their goals, shouldn't your concern be about your policies, rather than spin? With the current financial crisis, when Al Qaeda specifically states that they want to bankrupt this country, shouldn't you have the slightest bit of concern?
Jim Woolsey, the former CIA director who publicly connected Iraq to the 9/11 attacks without any evidence in 2001, and senior foreign-policy adviser Randy Scheunemann spent more time whining about the Washington Post’s standards of fairness than on the logic of why Al Qaeda might prefer Sen. John McCain. “An amazing piece of journalism, and I use journalism in quotation marks,” Scheunemann said, going on to list barely approving quotes of Sen. Barack Obama from Hamas, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, which he said he wasn’t going “to characterize.”
[...]
Yet the idea of Al Qaeda preferring a U.S. strategy that strengthens it confounded the McCain camp. “It is ridiculous to believe that in its heart of hearts, Al Qaeda wants John McCain to be the president,” Woolsey said. “It’s ludicrous.”
If you actually care about this country, that is.
Seriously, I don't know how they could be any more obvious that they don't give a flying fuck about anyone or anything other than winning goddamn elections and gaining more power. It drives me completely bonkers that so many people are completely blind to this.
Feminism 101
The Planet Of The Guys. Oh, With Gals, Too, Naturally. by Echidne.
Discussion Question: In what ways has the idea that "man" is the default human and "woman" a lesser variation thereof affected you?
[This is the second in a series created by the goddess Echidne about why she became a feminist, which I'm just mirroring with discussion threads. Echidne's first post was here and mine here. If you have trouble loading that page because of the overwhelming and awesome discussion that ensued, try reading the Disqus page instead. The Disqus page for this thread is here.]
It's Story Time
From the Miami Herald:
With the smell of sawdust in the air and planks of wood stacked around him, Republican presidential candidate John McCain hammered his tax cut promises and his opponent's encounter with ''Joe the Plumber,'' referencing the now famous ''spread the wealth'' remark more than half a dozen times at a morning lumberyard rally.Next week he'll be hitting the trail with Larry the Cable Guy and Bob the Builder just to give all the other fictional characters equal time. Jared is handling the catering, the coffee will be supplied by Mrs. Olson, and Rosie the waitress will clean up any messes. Oh, and Madge the manicurist will be making sure that Sarah Palin's nails are just perfect for the tour. Remember, "you're soaking in it!"
(Cross-posted.)
Why McCain Shouldn't Be President
"We just let things get completely out of hand," he said of his own party's rule in the past eight years.This would be the same John McCain who voted with Bush 95% of the time.
…"Spending, the conduct of the war in Iraq for years, growth in the size of government, larger than any time since the Great Society, laying a $10 trillion debt on future generations of America, owing $500 billion to China, obviously, failure to both enforce and modernize the [financial] regulatory agencies that were designed for the 1930s and certainly not for the 21st century, failure to address the issue of climate change seriously," Mr. McCain said in an interview with The Washington Times aboard his campaign plane en route from New Hampshire to Ohio.
"Those are just some of them," he said with a laugh, chomping into a peanut butter sandwich as a few campaign aides in his midair office joined in the laughter.
Does that make him 5% maverick?
Question of the Day
Suggested via email by Shaker PatC: Which frequently misused word is like nails on a chalkboard every time you hear it being misused?
PatC cites "iconoclast" as her berserk-making entry. Given the last two years, I've got to go with "maverick"—because no one who uses that word actually seems to know what it really means.
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Caption This Photo
Looks like Senator McCain's talking about women's "health" again.
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., campaigns at Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
"Most Qualified"
John McCain tells Don Imus about Sarah Palin:
I think she's the most qualified of anyone recently who has run for vice president to tell you the truth...Compared to Al Gore, Lloyd Bentsen, Bob Dole, or George H. W. Bush?
Oh, wait; he never says vice president of what. We could be talking about one of his (many) condominium homeowner's associations, or the student council at Idaho State. Hey, he might be right about that.
(Cross-posted.)
Stuff
In addition to the 10- and 14-point leads found in recent polling I mentioned last night, two more polls are showing big leads for Obama: Fox News' poll shows Obama leading by 9 points, and the new Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll finds him leading by 9.6 points.
The bad news is that Obama's not leading by that much in every state, or even the states in which he is leading—McCain will win some states, including some with lots of electoral votes, and it only takes one or two swing states to swing McCain's way for him to eke out a win.
The good news is that it still bodes well for Obama's chances, and/or badly for McCain's, and if Obama wins with a popular vote total anywhere near reflective of that polling, he really will have a mandate to push a progressive agenda. (Whether he grabs that opportunity with both fists as he should is another matter entirely. Never underestimate a Democrat's capacity to fail utterly when handed the opportunity for a wild success!)
Also: Even if the worst happens, and McCain wins, Obama looks very likely to win the popular vote—and, if he does (no less if he wins it by a lot while losing the electoral college), it may at long last serve as the impetus for the fundamental election reforms we so desperately need.
Or maybe just riots and martial law.
Quote of the Day
"I know at the end of the day putting this in God's hands, the right thing for America will be done, at the end of the day on Nov. 4."—Governor Sarah Palin, in her vom-inducing chit-chat with the detestable James Dobson.
Let's remember to revisit this quote should Obama emerge victorious on Election Day, shall we?
League of Extraordinary Megadouches
I eagerly await Pat Buchanan's commentary about how the charming lads of St. Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, are only endorsing McCain because he's a white penis-American.
Paradigm Shift
As ugly as this election season has become, I appreciate the ability for both of the following stories to completely mix things up and maybe question our generalizations.
Unhinged McCain Hater
Last month, a small group of McCain supporters were hanging out peacefully and distributing pamphlets at 51st and Lexington in Manhattan. For no apparent reason, a local Manhattanite went up to a middle-aged woman holding a McCain/Palin sign and started screaming at her. Eventually, he ripped the sign out of her hands, broke it, and then actually hit her with it, bruising her face in the process. While attempting to flee from the scene, the woman followed the attacker down to a subway platform and alerted the police officers there as to what transpired. When confronted, the attacker allegedly said the following:"I don’t know why I did this. It’s just those signs, and this election, it has me so upset.”
Major fail.
There is absolutely no excuse for such a disgusting display of violence. It's simply not possible for people to cling to the idea of our country being so morally superior to others while doing stupid shit like this. How ironic that an election of a new leader to help us move forward (i.e. progress) from the current shitheel-in-chief can result in regression to lizard-brained behavior that's anathema to a respectful and functional culture.
(As an aside, it isn't clear what this attacker's political affiliation is, aside from the fact that he clearly hates McCain.)
Muslim McCain Supporters - Truth to Power
Thanks to Shaker Kathy at Birmingham Blues for forwarding this item from the American News Project. Their summary of the following video covers it all:At a John McCain rally in Woodbridge, Virginia, three people handed out "Obama for Change" bumper stickers with the Communist sickle and hammer and the Islamic crescent, saying Obama was a socialist with ties to radical Islam. Several moderate McCain supporters, Muslim and Christian alike, struck back - relentlessly bombarding the group distributing the flyers until they left the premises.
The bigots who were trying to stoke the anti-Muslim fire thought they were safe to do so at the McCain rally. How pleasant a surprise to see them get slammed by fellow supporters and a representative of the campaign. Now those are the kinds of supporters that merit media attention.
But... But... But... ACORN!!! Joe the Plumber!!! Aiiieeee!!!
While I was eating my lunch and browsing the paper (and after finding a cool story regarding some pre-war bassoons that fit in perfectly with MB's "Wolf" post), I came across these two delightful little tales.
1. McCain Campaign Paid GOP Operative Accused of Voter Fraud:
John McCain paid $175,000 of campaign money to a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states, it has emerged.The Shell Game continues. Pay no attention to that changed vote behind the curtain. Meanwhile, back
As the McCain camp attempts to tie Barack Obama to claims of registration irregularities by the activist group ACORN, campaign finance records detailing the payment to the firm of Nathan Sproul, investigated several times for fraud, threatens to derail that argument.
The documents show that a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the Republican National Committee and the California Republican Party, made the payment to Lincoln Strategy, of which Mr Sproul is the managing partner, for the purposes of "voter registration".
Mr Sproul has been investigated on numerous occasions for preventing Democrats from voting, destroying registration forms and leading efforts to get Ralph Nader on ballots to leach the Democratic vote.
2. Alaska Paid for Palin Daughters to Travel:
ANCHORAGE - Governor Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and she later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.And here's my favorite part:
The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old daughter Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.
In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.
Palin justified having the state pay for the travel of her daughters - Bristol, 14-year-old Willow, and 7-year-old Piper - by noting on travel forms that the girls had been invited to attend or participate in events on the governor's schedule. After she was picked by John McCain as his running mate and reporters asked for the records, Palin ordered changes to previously filed expense reports. In the amended reports, Palin added phrases such as "First Family attending" and "First Family invited" to explain the girls' attendance.Awesome. Palin can do the Shell Game too! That's some G to the O to the P going on right there, my friends.
McCain's Nasty Campaign Tactics Creating Joblessness
Literally. A woman in West Virginia and a man in Wisconsin have quit their jobs at call centers rather than read a script that included the message: "Hello, I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the US Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home, and killed Americans."
The Wisconsinite had read negative scripts about Obama before as part of the job, but drew the line at that script, choosing joblessness and a clean conscience over being a purveyor of incendiary lies.
Not much of a choice, that.
