McCain 100 years ad

I got an email from Howard Dean this morning, (yeah, we exchange emails regularly) asking to raise money for an attack ad against McCain. I'm going to quote almost the entire email here, because I don't want anyone to think I'm over reacting to a sound byte.

Dear Peter,

John McCain wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years. He's said it, and it's on tape.

But his campaign hates that he was caught. They've viciously attacked anyone who reminded the American people that he said it, including me. They've said that those who reference the 100 years comments are "deliberately misleading voters."

So we've taken John McCain's own words -- video of him saying that 100 years would be "fine with me" -- and made a TV ad. There's no confusion, no distortion, no misleading -- it's John McCain, on tape, for voters to judge on their own.

It's one of the most powerful political ads I've ever seen. It's devastating -- and the McCain campaign will spend the rest of the election trying to fight it.

I agree completely with McCain that this is “deliberately misleading” ad. It takes one sound byte and plays it repeatedly without context.

Here’s the ad along with a longer clip. I don’t think anyone can claim the ad is not misleading. The New York Times has a little bit of the back and forth over this ad.

This isn’t as stupid a distraction as the flag lapel issue, which I still can’t believe they actually used time in a debate to ask obama about. At least this is literally about the Iraq war, which is a real issue, but it’s such an over simplification that it prevents real debate.

POHS

Unspoken Speech

While I'm at it, check out this fanfic speech by Obama. Good stuff.

-JEK
Not getting a lot of work done at the moment.

Republicants

You know how the Republicans are always talking about the Democrat primary, Democrat candidate, DemocRAT party?

This is a great example of that effect...Richard Mellon-Scaife's personal newspaper endorsing Clinton in the Democrat primary, as the best way to keep the strife going. Richard Mellon-Scaife, you may remember, is the de facto leader of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, and bankrolled much of the Whitewater and impeachment fun. So having his paper endorse perpetual bloodletting by HRC is not surprising.

But, friends, will you join me in a pledge? From here on out, from this day forward, from coast to coast and nation to nation, let's all adopt a new personal style guide:

Republican = RepubliCAN'T.


JEK
Trendsetter

Josh Marshall says it well

We've addressed this before, and now we're going to link to Talking Points Memo addressing it again: trying to correlate primary results with general election results makes no sense. People who vote in primaries are almost always going to vote for their party's candidate in the general election.

Yes, they get all hot headed and claim that they won't -- I myself used to say that I would vote for McCain if it came down to him vs. Clinton (I've now retreated to thinking I would abstain rather than make that Solominic choice, and come November would probably, if morosely, vote for Clinton. Though I would almost certainly leave the Democratic party, of which I have been a member only since the primary).

But really, Democratic candidated will get the vast majority of the committed, primary-voting Democrats. What matters is who draws the rest of the voters better. And I think the answer to that is pretty clear.

JEK
Really can't believe how much people go in for spin.

You heard it here first, or second, or eventually.

Further proof that the Obama campaign is taking their lead from Nation Indivisible.

And here's Maureen Dowd, saying something I agree with.

And here's the Editorial Board of the NYT, saying it better.

That is all.

JEK
On a power trip.

For example, he has the power to read the New York Times for you.

Pennsylvanyawn.....

Obama: JEK! My friend and confidant! What ever shall I do? I battled and battled for Pennsylvania, and did not win it.

Me: You were always going to lose Pennsylvania. The old democrats don't go down easy.

Obama: But since the some of the democratic primary voters didn't vote for me, and instead voted for the other democrat, some in such numbers that the state effectively turned blue for the first time since Reconstruction, my chances of victory are surely diminished and my prospects imperilled!

Me: Don't you listen to anything I tell you, chump?

Obama: Well, I suppose I'll continue fighting tooth and nail against Hillary Clinton. Pity I can't get around to the general election yet, but as long as she has one shot in a million I guess I have to pay her mind.

Me: Well, you could do that...or you could just start working against McCain, ignore Clinton, and let her flame out of her own accord (while not seeming to totally ignore the people of NC and Indy.)

Obama: But...um, no, wait, actually that sounds like a really good idea.

Me: I'll be in the plane.


-JEK
Maxed out for the primary last month. You should try it...your wallet feels lighter, but so does your step.

Obama & MoveOn

MoveOn ran this contest, which it would have been cool to enter if I could only have gotten myself organized. But if there is one message we as a society have learned from film critics, it's that the best thing is not to do, but to judge what others have done while filled with the knowledge that you would have done it better...if you'd only got around to it.

In that spirit, let's all join in the favoritism: [click the video below to go to the MoveOn site, where you can watch more videos and vote on them in a pretty addiction-forming way]




You can see why Clinton's not the biggest MoveOn fan...


-JEK
Knows deep down he's really just a surgeon, and a funny looking one at that...

Louisville Recap (courtesy of the NYT)

A few weeks back I went to Louisville, KY, about the most unlikely place that you'd expect to find the crossroads of American theatre. But there it is, showcased annually as the Humana Festival for New American Plays. Louisville is actually full of surprises: beyond being the scene of the most dynamic weekend in theatre, and, of course, the Kentucky derby, it is also a place where you can see Mary Kay cadillacs lined up down the street, and of an outfit called "Simplified Urgent Care," which will the subject of a later post, with bells on. What's more, it's the home of the freshest seafood in America, by its own boast, for having the national UPS shipping hub at its airport. And the fish there really is amazing. But back to the stage: read about it here, and if you want my personal beliefs, reverse the reviews of "Neighborhood" and "Hurricaine Gordo."

JEK
Seriously thinking about moving to Louisville at some point.

Thoroughly Vetted

This is an interesting piece from the Huffington Post. It's a reminder of how the tables turn, but not just in showing the familiar, expected gradations of hypocrisy that attend modern political races. What's more interesting is the reminder, towards the bottom of the article, of another example of how the Obama campaign of 2008 mirrors, in many ways, the Clinton campaign of 1992. A young, charismatic leader, all about Hope, with no military experience and a dream of JFK steps out of obscurity to take it all...how can you expect the Clintons to counter that with anything other than hypocrisy. They're fighting their own past.

JEK
Believes in cycles of history and a deterministic universe with a good sense of narrative.

World's Best Fish Taco

Here at Nation Indivisible, we strive to inform you, noble reader. And we don't just want to tell you who to vote for, or that the world may come to a cataclysmic end at the hands of a band of overly confident physicists in Switzerland. No, we provide full service. So if, between voting Obama and being reduced to a cold hunk of anti-muons, you find yourself very reasonably craving nice fish tacos, but don't know where to get them: this is where you should get them.

JEK
Fish tacos have become kind of a big deal for him

Something we should really worry about...

Look forward to the thoughts of our contributing physicists on this. I'm glad the judicial system of Hawaii has got my back, I can tell you that. Pay particular note to the end -- if we can be consumed by quantum dragons, why not some horsemen leaping eagerly into our dimension?

JEK
Really doesn't want all his scoffing at the End Times to be something he regrets.

Case in point (and counter-point)

I think this sums up the Obama/Clinton race as well as anything.

Except for this:





Compared to this:




r