Are You FUCKING kidding me?

Check out this story in the Dallas Star Telegram. Apparently the Secret Service ordered the Dallas police to stop security checks an hour before an Obama rally. They wanted the lines to move faster. As of this writing, none of the major news networks have picked this story up. Ed Schulze has been talking about it on his radio show but that's it.

Folks, I can see this shit happening all over again. The people (and you know who the fuck I am talking about) who have the most to lose from an Obama presidency are going to try to take him out and blame some crazed racist.

Was this a test run?

What is the Story?

So, is this story that the New York Times published today about John McCain's "improper" relationship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman about McCain or the New York Times? Has the New York Times gone too far and stepped out of its normal parameters of reporting news? Will they still be the "paper of record?"

This could be a unbelievably damaging story to the Republican Party, not so much from the standpoint of McCain having an affair, but from the fact that he did favors for Isemen when he was the head of the Commerce committee.

Before I render any judgment, the sources that are saying McCain did have an improper relationship need to go on record. The New York Times has a lot of explaining to do and I really need to hear all that from Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times, and not the writers of the story. And by improper, I mean from the lobbyist angle not the sexual angle. Can we please move past this crap in this country? I don't give shit if McCain had group sex with the entire east wing of the Shady Oaks retirement home. The fact that we are obsessed with our leader's sex lives means we have much growing up to do.

It's Fundamental

A while back I put up a post about the differences between the conservative brain and the liberal brain. When you think about this study, it really explains a lot and someone with deep pockets should expand this study and see what other sorts of things we can find out about the conservative brain! (cue maniacal, evil scientist laughter and maniacal organ music)

One thing is certain, though. As I begin to delve deeper into the life of the conservative mind, my studies have brought me to several interesting pools of knowledge. The latest is a recent study of fundamental attribution error. Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) is the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and over estimate the impact of personal disposition. When it comes to the issues of the economy and poverty, much talked about in our presidential campaign, we see many conservatives making this error time and again.

"People generally get what they deserve."

"Those who don't work are often freeloaders"

"People who take initiative can still get ahead"

"The free market offers everyone choice and it is the fault of the individual, not society, if they can't pull themselves by their own boot straps and make it!"

We have heard these tired lines over and over. They are, in fact, completely invalid. And science....SCIENCE!!!....has proven it to be true, time and again.

A typical FAE experiment involves a group of people...let's say 100. Each of these hundred will spend time talking, one on one, to a certain person, who would either act aloof and critical or warm and friendly. 50 of the 100 were told beforehand that the person they would be talking to was an actor, who was going to fake feelings, and the other 50 were told nothing. They were then asked what their impressions were of this person. Guess what happened?

Even though they knew this person was an actor, the 50 people "in the know" still regarded said person as warm or cold. There was virtually no difference between the blind group and the control group. They knew the person was behaving in certain ways due to a situation but they still saw it as being a personal disposition.

To be fair, this is a very human failing. We all suffer from it. We lack the width of vision and the clarity to correctly analyze the myriad of combination of factors that cause people to behave the way they do. At least liberals question themselves and self reflect enough to recognize FAE. 21st Century conservatives, though, are a breed in and of themselves.

Not only do they fall into the FAE trap more than your average bear, they are completely unwilling to widen their perspective. Self reflection? Well, that's for pussys! In addition, they fall into other traps as well like confirmation bias or self serving bias. In fact, this is their basis for foreign policy: we are good and they are bad. Our army is for defense and theirs is for aggression. When we attack it is to protect ourselves. When they do, it is because they are evil.

David Meyers, professor at Hope College in Michigan, wrote:

Information about each other's actions is then filtered, interpreted, and remembered through preconceived stereotypes. Group interaction among like minded policymakers may polarize these tendencies, leading to groupthink, whereby each sees its own group as more moral, thereby justifying retaliation.

Gee, doesn't that sound all too fucking familiar!!!

Hey, how about this classic?

"Society is not to blame for crime, criminals are"

That was Bob Dole from 1996 and I always crack up when I hear that one. In fact, I laugh so hard I pretty much throw up and need oxygen.....ESPECIALLY when I hear the red states of our fair land talk about crime. A study done in the 1990s showed how white males from southern states deal with problems that arise in everyday life. It's no wonder that our current president enjoys most of his support from this area of the country. Homicide rates and violent crime are nearly triple the rates in these states because of cultural heritage, not a person's disposition.

So when it comes to issues of poverty, the economy, and even crime, we all need to learn to shuck our innate tendency to blame the person and look at the situation as a whole. What is this person's background? What kind of an environment did they come from? What is their cultural heritage?

And then do you know what we need to do? I think that Stephen Biko said it best.

Change the way people think and things will never be the same.

Cheeseheads Vote

Today is Wisconsin's primary. If you believe the polls, Obama wins here and in Hawaii, who is having their caucus today. If he does well in these states with women and under 50K income people, the Clinton camp is going to start to shit pink twinkies.

Polls say he is now tied in Texas with Hillary...basically within the margin of error and about 15 pts behind in Ohio. If he wins Texas, as in gets the most delegates, it's over.

The Map

Take a look at this map showing the states Obama has won and the states Hillary has won. Obama has won 22 states and Clinton 13.

Look at all the red states that have gone for Obama. True, this is only Democrats voting but if they are as energized in the general elections as they are now, we could see some states turn blue.

I really hope that the bigwigs in the Democratic party get the message.

Bile For McCain

Here is an article from The Toronto Sun about the loudmouths against McCain hilarity. I flicked around the dial these past couple of days and they are still going at it. Pretty funny and pretty self defeating.

Three Great Wins

Well, the Man who could change the World has finally put Hillary in the rear view mirror with wins last night in DC, Virginia, and Maryland. Can you say BIG MO??!!

Here is a link from CNN about how well Senator Obama matches up against McCain.

Make sure you get out and vote if you live in Wisconsin. The primary is in six days.

Notice The Cheese Has Slipped Completely Off Their Cracker

Just when you thought the conservative movement in this country couldn't descend any further into mental and emotional psychosis, they seem to have a found yet another level of dementia. John McCain, the inevitable Republican nominee for the 2008 Presidential race, is apparently not conservative enough. Unless you are fully rooted in the delusion of this hysterical ideology, apparently, you are not allowed in the club.

Let's take a moment to review what it means to be a member of this club, shall we?

1. National Defense. The United States is always right in everything we do in the world, everyone else is wrong, we never start anything, we are perfectly innocent, and the only way to solve a problem is to blow it up and kill people.

2. Economy. The free market is filled with nothing but goodness and all corporate leaders should be worshiped for all the money they have. Any government interference will result in the deaths of millions of Americans and we will eventually all end up communists. (keyword to beat incessantly into the ground: TRIAL LAWYERS aka those sub human satanists who take money from the deeply wholesome and eternally benevolent corporations of America)

3. Health Care. Socialized Medecine is directly from Satan's own pit of fire. If people can't afford to buy health care, fuck em. They should be dead anyway.

4. Abortion. All human life is sacred. Liberals have murdered 70 million people.

5. Torture. We must maim or murder anyone who stands in our way...quickly...the clocks is ticking....ahhhhh...hurry......ohhhh....ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

6. Supreme Court. Only judges who see things our way are good. Otherwise they are all liberal judges who legislate from the bench. (keyword to beat incessantly into the ground: ACTIVIST JUDGES)

7. Immigration. Fuck you, get out of our country.

8. Campaign Finance Reform. Also the work of Satan. Churches should be allowed to contribute and control any campaign they want.

9. Climate Change. Completely False. A fantasy made up by the left to hoodwink voters amnd money. There is no climate change and don't ever mention it again. Begin Fox News scroll of scientists who don't believe in climate change. Don't confuse this list with C PAC members. They might look identical but always remember our motto: Don't believe what you are seeing. It is all a liberal trick!

10. Gay Marriage. All faggots should be treated like animals and burn in hell. What's that? You think I am a bigot and intolerant? How dare you criticized my personal beliefs! Wah!!!!!!!!!!

11. Education. We must stop the teaching of all things that don't adhere to our platform. They are poisoning our children's minds. Seig Heil!

12. The Media is all liberal and against us at all times. In fact anyone who doesn't completely agree with us is, in fact, a minion of Lucifer.

Apparently, the conservatives have their own little rating system (how cute) for how conservative a person actually is. They use the above points and then average the score to get a rating. Bill Bennett, conservative talk show host and former Secretary of Education, stated last week on CNN that John McCain scores an 82 out of 100.

"NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!"

was the five year old temper tantrum-esque cry of conservative pundits. It must be 100 percent conservative, good and wholseome like white milk, or we will all perish in a boiling pit of sewage! Eternal child Rush Limbaugh has been on a tirade, going as far to say that supporters of John McCain suffer from anal poisoning. Odd, considering that it was an anal cyst that got Limbaugh out of Vietnam. Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Medved, Michelle Malkin and a host of other CM (conservative movement) douche bags are fit to be tied. They are out of their minds with anger that Republicans are turning out in droves for John McCain.

Sure, he is tough on terror, pro life, pro big business, against universal health care, against spending on Education, and would appoint strict, conservative judges to the court BUT he won't support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage (even though he opposes gay marriage), he gave amnesty to illegal immigrants, he believes that climate change is real, and (mother of all that is holy) thinks that torture is wrong. What a fucking liberal! Even Ann Coulter (hall hath no fury like a woman-oops-man scorned) says that she will campaign for Hillary Clinton if McCain is the Republican nominee.

Could it be that sane people are trying to take back the Republican party, returning it to less infantile run organization? Are we heading back to the time of when I had polite disagreements with conservatives, who were mostly sane and intelligent as opposed to insane and imbecillic? Will the CMDBs ruin this one chance to restore the Republican Party to honor and dignity?

It looks as though they might not because the people are speaking-in a very loud tone-and they like John McCain. I like John McCain. I disagree with him on a number of issues, chiefly Iraq and health care, and would probably vote for Hillary over him but at least if he won we would have a person, unlike now, who is fucking qualified for the job. President McCain would be an intelligent, passionate, empathetic, and strong leader. He is a real patriot, not a faux one invented by the pea size intellect of the Rush Limbaughs of the world. Come to think of it, those four traits that I just listed above describe everything the CMDBs completely and utterly lack. No wonder they don't like him!

There has been a lot of talk lately about how the Democrats might implode due to the tight race between Obama and Hillary. If you ask me, it is the Republicans who should be worried. They have allowed people with the emotional and mental maturity of an 8 year old boy run their party and look how undeniably fucked up our country is as a result of their moronic ideology. Now, decent conservatives, both in the party and across the country, are trying to make up for the colossal fuck up that is Bush- Co. They are trying to do the right thing and the CMDBs won't let them.

Rush says that a McCain ticket will destroy the Republican Party. In reality, it will destroy the CMDB part of the party and that's what he and others are afraid of. They hate John McCain because he is a living representation of the loss of control they have over Americans that is slipping every day. They can see it in their lower ratings and they hear it from the people that call in to their shows. At the end of the day, they hate John McCain because, as with all of the rest of the people that they slime, he is better than them and they know their time is just about over. (*Sigh) Such a shame......

The people are speaking and they love John McCain.

Great Quotes!

Two great quotes to start off the week.

"She is a smart person, she is a capable person, she would be a vast improvement over the incumbent. What is also true is, I think it's very hard for Senator Clinton to break out of the politics of the last 15 years. I will create a working majority because I won't demonize my opponents and I already attract independent and conservative voters." -Barack Obama Feb 10, 2008

And this one...which leads into tomorrow's column.

"I think we are seeing the twilight of the loud mouth radio host."- P J O'Rourke, on the Bill Maher show February 7, 2008, in response to some conservatives dislike of John McCain.

Stinking Liberal

Colin Powell, in a recent interview on CNN, called Barack Obama an "exciting person on the political stage who has energized people here and around the world." He also says he is keeping his options open as to who he will support this year in the presidential election.

I wonder what the neo conservative douche bag machine will think of this one....

Feeling The Strain

Apparently our military is beginning to admit the strain of what two extended tours of duty can do. Check out this article just posted today.

Let's make sure that we don't cut and run, though, because that would put us at more of a risk. NOT! The question is...how many MORE things can conservatives be wrong about before people start getting the message?

The New Frontier

I've been talking a lot these past few weeks about the presidential election. As the saying goes, though, all politics are local. So, on the eve of Super Tuesday, I thought I would talk a little bit about my congressional district, the 3rd in Minnesota, and who I think would be the best person to represent it.

As some of you may know, Jim Ramstead, the current rep for the 3rd is retiring. He has had enough of going back and forth to Washington for almost 20 years. Jim was a perfect fit for this district-center right-which is what most people are out here in the western suburbs. It is very likely that Erik Paulsen will get the Republican nod. He says he is center-right just like Ramstead but he is completely full of shit. On the Democratic side, the choice has basically come down to two people: Terri Bonoff and Ashwin Madia.

Terri is about as old guard Democrat as you can get, which in my opinion means fucking clueless. If she is nominated you can pretty much bank on Paulsen winning the district. If that happens, we are going to see more of the same, tired ideology that will result in colossal amounts of bullshit. In order to win this district, Democrats are going to have to get people to cross party lines, get more people out to vote, and snag some independents. The person that can do all that is Ashwin Madia.

Ashwin Madia's parents moved to America from Mumbai, India. They had only $19 in cash when they first arrived. Madia's family settled in Plymouth, Minnesota, where he went to Osseo Senior High School. He attended the University of Minnesota where he became student body president. While in this position, he worked to cap tuition increases and fees. He then attended New York University School of Law. He was in New York on Sept 11, 2001. After that day, he decided to join the marines. Ash completed basic training in Quantico, Virginia. His first duty station was Okinawa, Japan, where he served as a prosecutor, defense counsel, and legal advisor to a Marine Corps commander.

Madia later served in Iraq from September 2005 to March 2006. While there, he worked to strengthen Iraq's criminal justice system. This job included working with Iraqi judicial officers, U.S. military and civilian officials, and representatives of the European Union and United Nations, as well as briefing top U.S. generals on the status of the rule of law in the country.

I think this is the guy that can beat Paulsen. If you are a Democrat supporting Bonoff, ask yourself this question: do you honestly think she can beat him? She'll roll out the same old crap and look like a female Skip Humphrey and Republicans will be laughing to another election win in the 3rd. If you are an independent, don't waste your vote. This guy is about as progressive as they come. If you are a moderate Republican that is sick to death of Bushit, Ash will talk your ear off about fiscal responsibility and making America strong again economically.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ash yesterday and I urge all of you to caucus for him tomorrow when you vote. Visit his campaign site and learn more about him. Read where he stands on the issues. This page will tell you exactly how to caucus for him. He is the exact person we need representing our district. His youthfulness (29 years old) reminds of another person running around the country these days:) His energy reminds of my own when it comes to the politics of hope. His intelligence is something that we desperately need in Washington right now. He understands, on a very deep level, that this election is about the future.

It's about the New Frontier.

Coulter Endorses Hillary

Could this be the end of the conservative douche bag pundit machine? Well, at least it proves what I have said all along-Coulter just has to say something insane once every two months or so to stay in the limelight.

Thank you John McCain!

Ah...too much happening...head hurts...

Wow. Holy crap. Talk about a crazy last 48 hours. Alright, let's see if we have this straight.

1. Edwards: Gone. So much for "going all the way." He is now in a very strong position to be kingmaker. I predict he goes for Obama and then Hillary will be in big trouble this Tuesday.

2. Giulianni: Gone. Really sad. Our Mayor had to bow out and, with it, the only chance I would have of voting Republican.

3. Hillary: Shucks, isn't it too bad that JFK's daughter endorsed Obama? As I have said before, the torch is passed...

4. McCain: Part of me is happy for him..the comeback kid..er...well maybe not kid. The other part of me knows that if he wins the presidency, we will have a nation that has decided to remain an immovable object.

5. Paul: Still in...and with plenty of money and pissed off "real" conservatives behind him.

6. Huckabee: Looking for a miracle...or the VP spot with McCain.

7. Romney: Ward Cleaver is going to have some problems on Tuesday.

8: Obama: I think he might surprise some people on Tuesday....people with last name Clinton. I don't think anyone has any idea how many "non-voting" voters he is going to bring to the polls. I predict it is going to be staggering. If he gets the Democratic nod, you are going to see many of the "other hundred million" vote. The people of this country can sense that something wonderful could happen and they could help be a part of it. He's close....I'm nervous....too nervous..

Some interesting quotes from comments from Monday's post that I thought I would bring out front and comment on:

"very few people (Mark included) ever talk about Obama's voting record"

Quite a bit has been made about Obama voting "present" when he was in the state legislature. There are people talking about it. I don't talk about it much because I'm not sure how that will translate on a national stage.

"'Equality in all areas of our country would have been the order of the day.' I'm sorry but mankind will never be remade like that and I get leery of politicians taking steps to enforce their definition of fairness."

Spoken like a true conservative. While I am not advocating a collectivist culture, cultures that favor the individualist have higher rates of loneliness, more divorce, more homicide, and more stress related diseases. Remember, too, Obama is not saying that HE will do anything. It will be OUR responsibility. All he is doing is opening the door...which, for the last eight years, has been eight foot thick of metal with seven thousand locks on it.

"Hillary is enough of a polarizing figure that I think McCain wins that one."

Agreed. Democrats, please don't fucking nominate her.

"I foresee a rejuvenation of “Where’s the beef?” analogies. However, Obama is still trouble because too many people live for that sunny rhetoric and a return to Camelot."

Also agreed. Do you know that they changed Obama's web site about a month ago? It used to have very detailed ideas and plans. Now it seems too light and airy. I want to hear more specifics as well. They really need to put back the old site.

"we still have super Tuesday coming up and neither political party has anyone set in stone yet."

It's going to be really cool, I agree. I do like how exciting the race is on both sides.

Oh, and how totally mega is the debate tomorrow night between Hillary and Barack now? I will be glued to my wide screen...

American Monarchy

A while back I was a at get together for Keith Ellison, esteemed congressmen for Minneapolis. Keith wasn't there but plenty of his supporters were and we all started talking about who we liked for president. There were some Edwards' supporters and some Obama.....one or two Richardson folks but the overwhelming majority loved Hillary Clinton. In fact, one of my friends there said something that struck me.

"Well, I suppose I'm for Hillary...so we can continue the whole Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton thing."

To this day, I don't know if she was serious or kidding. Either way, we have a serious fucking problem on our hands, folks, and the Democrats who support Hillary don't seem to care. Ask yourselves this question: do you want to allow the same two families to run our country for at least 24 years? That's an entire generation!! Good God, people!!! Can any of you see what is happening to our country? Do we want to live in a monarchy!?

Much like the Bushie, the Hillites are passionate, driven, and centrally focused. I mean this as a negative, not a positive. To make matters worse, they want payback. Payback for the last 8 years. Some Hillary supporters I have talked to over the last few months are the biggest cunts I have ever met...and they ain't all women folks! They want to force their agenda down the throats of the American people just like Bush did and they aren't in the mood for compromise. They want to continue the childish, bickering partisan bullshit of the last ten years.

And, just as with President Bush, if this happens, nothing will be accomplished and I suspect we will be worse off than we are now. It will be four years of the conservative pundits being on the offense again and folks like Moveon.org will have renewed life on defense. These people are still going to be around and we can't be having this shit anymore. We have serious work to do, people, and our country depends on it. We don't have time for this crap anymore.

Remember my column two weeks back? Republicans want Hillary to win so they can have their perfect opponent. Unless that opponent is Rudy Giuliani, we are going to have more of the same bullshit we have had for the last eight years. Can you imagine a Romney vs. Clinton election? Or a McCain vs. Clinton election? Pee-Yew!! As Senator Obama said last Saturday, after winning the South Carolina primary, this is an election about the past versus the future.

I am speaking directly to Hillary supporters here. The Clintons are the past. They had their time in the White House. Barack Obama is the future. Bottom line: Super Tuesday is one week away and I urge all of you who are Democrats to NOT caucus for Hillary. If she wins, it forces people like myself to lose faith in the political process and not vote. Or vote for a third party candidate. I did that in 2000 and look what happened. I'm not the only one who is suffering from chronic regret.

We are on the cusp of something great here. We have a chance to really move forward. Why on earth would any of you want to move back?

France!

A little something to roil conservatives over the weekend.

Great Quote

"Giving political power to the neo-conservative is the same thing as empowering the mentally and emotionally ill"

-Todd Rundgren, Minneapolis, MN. January 22, 2007.

Remember....

Uh Oh! Now he's really done it....

Our first (potentially) post partisan president has really gone and screwed up this time. In a recent interview with the editorial board of the Reno Gazette Journal, Barack Obama said that the Republican Party has been the party of ideas for the last 10 or 15 years. In addition, he had seeming praise recently for Ronald Reagan and the way he changed our country.

Gosh, he is so divisive. You can't just hear the hatred in his words for the folks on the right side of the aisle.

Yep, sure is gonna be the same shit if he is elected.


NOT!

Absolutely Fucking False

Check this out

Obama emails are false.

If you have received any emails about Barack Obama, more than likely they are untrue. This includes the Pledge of Allegiance crap that circulated about two months ago as well as the baloney about him being raised a radical Muslim. Snopes also backs it up here.

Disagree with him all you want in the issues but don't believe much of what you hear in these claims.