Why Johnny can't run

I don't claim to be a financial wizard. In truth, I really don't understand our country's financial meltdown. Except that I understand it is serious. Very serious.

So I was surprised when House Repugnicants shot down their Pres-idiot's bailout plan Monday. Despite his impassioned plea to pass the plan.

Was it a good plan? Don't know. Was it a bad plan? Don't know.

Nevertheless, at least two people were seriously injured in the fallout from the vote.

Unless he had any doubts before, the White House W-imbecile is officially and irrevocably irrelevant. Beyond a lame duck. Wheelchair bound.

And the Repugnicants' new standard bearer, John McSame, is limping badly.

McSame had hitched his wagon to the bailout star. It was, he was proud to state, a plan he'd brokered personally. He was gonna save the union. He put his campaign on hold (yeah, right) to wade in and save the country.

Right, John.

One problem. His own party abandoned him.

And now where's John at?

Republican John McCain has maneuvered himself into a political dead end and has five weeks to find his way out.

Last Wednesday, McCain suspended his presidential campaign to insert himself into a $700 billion effort to rescue America's crumbling financial structure. In so doing, he tied himself far more tightly to the bill than did his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.

Then, as the bailout plan appeared ready for passage Monday in the House, McCain bragged that he was an action-oriented Teddy Roosevelt Republican who did not sit on the sidelines at a moment of crisis.

The implication: that he played a critical role in building bipartisan support for the unprecedented bailout.

"I went to Washington last week to make sure that the taxpayers of Ohio and across this great country were not left footing the bill for mistakes made on Wall Street and in Washington," McCain said at a campaign rally in the swing state of Ohio.

Problem was, John, your fellow Repugnicants weren't buying. Set yourself up as a maverick, even against your own party, and now you're hard-pressed to find a constituency, huh? Now who do you blame? Who else?

Initially, McCain went silent, choosing instead to send his chief economic adviser out with a statement that blamed Obama, claiming that the first-term Illinois senator had put his political ambitions ahead of the good of the country.

"This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country," McCain senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said.

It wasn't long, however, before McCain told reporters in Iowa: "Now is not the time to fix the blame, it's time to fix the problem."

Even YOU couldn't buy that, could you, Johnny?

So where does that leave McSame?

If the congressional impasse leads to a credit crisis, "it's not going to be good for McCain," veteran Republican consultant John Feehery said.

Toooo bad.

You went into the campaign admitting you didn't know much about the economy. Sure proved that, didn't you?

All you know is how to play dirty.

Let's see you sling enough mud to get out of this one, Johnny.

And so it goes.

Winnah!

I thought it was close, but close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and drive-in movies.

So, the winner of Friday night's debate was: Barack Obama!

A national poll of people who watched the first presidential debate suggests that Barack Obama came out on top, but there was overwhelming agreement that both Obama and John McCain would be able to handle the job of president if elected.
Fifty-one percent of those polled thought Obama did the better job in Friday night's debate, while 38 percent said John McCain did better.

Going in, I kinda figured if it was a draw, then you had to go with Obama. Since McCain obviously has more foreign policy exprience, if Obama held his own, then he won. He more than held his own.

McCain apparently failed to get the "game changer" he needed to reverse his deficit in the polls, Silverleib said.

Both candidates appeared to exceed expectations. McCain did better than expected in the minds of 60 percent, while 57 percent said Obama did a better job in the debate than they expected. Twenty percent said both candidates did worse than expected.

Personally, I thought the debate was duller than watching paint dry, but maybe that's just me.

Anyway. I'm glad it's over

And I'm glad Obama won.

And so it goes.

Suspended?

Or throwing in the towel?

Looks to me like, given rapidly sliding poll numbers...

Plus a fear of facing Obama in a debate.

Add in a fear of sending the Weatherchick out on her own.

John McSame is just kinda giving up.

First time he's done the right thing all campaign.

And so it goes.

Change ... his Depends

It's heartening to see that voters aren't as dumb as we sometimes think (despite those women rushing out to buy $500 Sara 'Weatherchick' Palin-style glasses). How shallow. But so is she.

Seems most voters have figured John McSame out after all:

Despite an intense effort to distance himself from the way his party has done business in Washington, Senator John McCain is seen by voters as far less likely to bring change to Washington than Senator Barack Obama. He is widely viewed as a “typical Republican” who would continue or expand President Bush’s policies, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The voters even have seemed to cool to the weather chick's temporary popularity:

Polls taken after the Republican convention suggested that Mr. McCain had enjoyed a surge of support — particularly among white women after his selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate — but the latest poll indicates “the Palin effect” was, at least so far, a limited burst of interest.

All in all, it's pretty heartening:

Among other groups, Mr. Obama had a slight edge among independents, and a 16-percentage-point lead among voters ages 18 to 44. Mr. McCain was leading by 17 points among white men and by the same margin among voters 65 and over. Before the convention, voters 65 and older were closely divided. In the latest poll, middle-age voters, 45 to 64, were almost evenly divided between the two.

The Weatherchick isn't giving the GOP the boost it fantasized about.

This poll found evidence of concern about Ms. Palin’s qualifications to be president, particularly compared with Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Mr. Obama’s running mate. More than 6 in 10 said they would be concerned if Mr. McCain could not finish his term and Ms. Palin had to take over. In contrast, two-thirds of voters surveyed said Mr. Biden would be qualified to take over for Mr. Obama, a figure that cut across party lines. And 75 percent said they thought Mr. McCain had picked Ms. Palin more to help him win the election than because he thought that she was well qualified to be president. ...

Of course, the GOP will claim that the poll is skewed because it says NYT on it. That's the way the GOP works; can't contradict the message, blame the messenger.

To put it another way: 'As a Republican, I only believe those news reports which affirm my already formed predjudices.'

And so it goes.

I didn't write it ... but I like it

I'm a little confused.

Let me see if I have this straight... (I hope I'm not offending anyone)

If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic, different.'

Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, you're a quintessential American story.

If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

But if you name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that
registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor,
spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with fewer than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive (and according to the actuarial tables, you have a greater than 30% chance of succeeding the president during your first term).

If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your un-wed teen daughter
ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community,
then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.

If your husband is nicknamed 'First Dude', with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now! Whew!!! Boy...I was worried there for a minute.

And so it goes.

Lotsa bull here

And so it goes.

If he could remember...

And so it goes

No there there

Sooner or later, I pray voters are gonna take a realistic look at Sarah Palin and realize:

She's just a female version of Dan Quayle.

If she didn't have a vagina, she'd still be back in Alaska pocketing all her oil company kickbacks.

And so it goes.

Almost too easy

Inflamed

Gotta say, McSame's Thursday night performance about as inspiring as a hemorrhoid.
But the GOP faithful would have spent the entire speech cheering if all he had done was stand up there and fart. Which wasn't far from the truth.

(It was funny of course, that the FOX TV folks just wet all over themselves declaring what an inspiring speech it was. All of the other talking heads were using words like insipid and confusing and unmemorable.)

At least there was a pro football game on at the same time to turn to.

And so it goes.