Love that post-World Messianic Tour bounce!

The race for the presidency has moved back into a statistical tie in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update of national registered voters, with Barack Obama now ahead of John McCain by just one percentage point, 45% to 44%.

Heh. BTW, Congress is standing at a wopping 13% approval. Remind me, what party is in charge?

PS: Just for reference, I do not put a massive amount of stock in polls. Take them all with a bit of skepticism. Until the margins are about 20% and highter, then I take them very seriously.

The Messiah spoke!

Sen. John McCain never mentions Sen. Barack Obama’s race except to acknowledge and salute the historic nature of his candidacy as the first African-American presumptive presidential nominee of a major party, and even that happens rarely. He just prefers not to go there.

So when Obama seemed to suggest Wednesday that the McCain campaign was preparing to make an issue of his Muslim middle name and race, some McCain insiders were livid.

Obama said: “Nobody thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face. So what they are going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know he’s not patriotic enough. He’s got a funny name. You know, he doesn’t look like all of those other presidents on the dollar bills.”

The McCain campaign fumed silently before responding.

“This is a typically superfluous response from Barack Obama,” said McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. “Like most celebrities, he reacts to fair criticism with a mix of fussiness and hysteria.”

Barry isn’t going to like that last shot, either. Don’t you know you cannot criticize the Messiah, Tucker?

It comes down to the simple fact that the majority on the Right do not care what your race, creed, color, sex, or religion is: we care about your ideas. And Barry’s are woefully lacking in positive American ideals.

But, the NY Times still went ahead an ran the article: McCain Tries to Define Obama as Out of Touch

After spending much of the summer searching for an effective line of attack against Senator Barack Obama, Senator John McCain is beginning a newly aggressive campaign to define Mr. Obama as arrogant, out of touch and unprepared for the presidency.

Those of us here in the starboard-o-sphere have been saying that for the better part of 9 months.

On Wednesday alone, the McCain campaign released a new advertisement suggesting — and not in a good way — that Mr. Obama was a celebrity along the lines of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Republicans tried to portray Mr. Obama as a candidate who believed the race was all about him, relying on what Democrats said was a completely inaccurate quotation.

Let’s see that ad

Via Blogs For Victory thru The Corner, as speech Senator McCain is to make today

I have been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it is meant as a compliment and sometimes it is meant as a criticism. But what it really means is I understand who I work for. I don’t work for a party. I don’t work for a president. I don’t work for a special interest. I don’t work for myself. I work for you; for the country that has been the love of my life.

Can’t argue with that, which is one of the reasons I am a big McCain supporter. Sure, I disagree with him on climate change and illegal immigration, but, don’t we have disagreements with everyone? I prefer a politician who at least thinks about what is best for the people and the country, rather then their own political interests.

My independence hasn’t always made me friends in Washington. Time and again, I’ve heard politicians, pundits and pollsters warn me that my position on this or that issue would cost me the presidency. But I don’t answer to them. I answer to you. And you will always know exactly where I stand and that, no matter what, I will always do what I believe is right for our country.

Compare that to Obama’s wife, who said “Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.”

In other words, you, The People, will be working for Barry, rather then the reverse.

My concern with Senator Obama is that on issues big and small, what he says and what he does are often two different things, and that he doesn’t seem to understand that the policies he offers would make our problems harder not easier to solve.

Senator Obama says he’s going to change Washington, but his solution is to simply make government bigger, and raise your taxes to pay for it. We’ve been doing that for years, and it hasn’t worked. In the few years he’s been in the Senate, he has requested nearly a billion dollars in pork barrel spending. That’s nearly a million dollars for every day he’s been in office.

I’ve never asked for a single pork barrel project for my state of Arizona, and as President, I will veto every bill that wastes your money, and make the authors famous. I will order a top to bottom review of every government program before I give them one additional dollar of funding. Those programs that are doing important work for the American people have nothing to fear from me. Those that can be modernized and made more effective will find me a willing partner. And those that have outlived their usefulness to you, and waste your money on things you neither want nor need, are going out of business whether they like it or not.

Senator Obama says he will only raise taxes on the rich. But in the Senate, he voted for tax hikes that would have impacted those making just $32,000 per year. He has proposed tax increases on income taxes, capital gains taxes, dividend taxes, Social Security taxes – pretty much anything that you can tax, he wants to tax more. Raising taxes in a bad economy is about the worst thing you could do because they would kill more jobs in an economy that‘s already losing too many. I‘m going to keep current tax rates low, and cut others, not because I want to make the rich richer, but because it keeps jobs in America and creates new ones, and gets our economy moving again by making sure you have more money to spend and save as you see fit.

Senator Obama says he wants energy independence, but he is opposed to new drilling at home; he is opposed to nuclear power; he is opposed to encouraging the invention of an affordable electric car that can run a hundred miles or more before it needs to be re-charged. He has even criticized wind and hydropower. He has said the high cost of gasoline doesn’t bother him, only that it rose too quickly. He believes every domestic energy source has a problem. I believe every energy source needs to be part of the solution. We need to develop new advanced alternative energies like wind, solar, tide and biofuels, but we also need to develop more existing energies like nuclear power and clean coal. And we need to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don‘t like us very much or care that Americans are suffering, start drilling and producing more oil at home, and bring down the cost of gasoline that is killing our economy.

You can read the whole speech over at The Corner.

This editorial is either a humor piece, or the Times has failed Politics 101. The fact that the Times is in the bag for Obama is a given

Well, that certainly didn’t take long. On July 3, news reports said Senator John McCain, worried that he might lose the election before it truly started, opened his doors to disciples of Karl Rove from the 2004 campaign and the Bush White House. Less than a month later, the results are on full display. The candidate who started out talking about high-minded, civil debate has wholeheartedly adopted Mr. Rove’s low-minded and uncivil playbook.

Oooooh, the Karl Rove boogieman! Besides, how can McCain have a high-minded, civil debate when Obama refuses to debate and rarely talks in anything other then high-minded feelings?

In recent weeks, Mr. McCain has been waving the flag of fear (Senator Barack Obama wants to “lose” in Iraq), and issuing attacks that are sophomoric (suggesting that Mr. Obama is a socialist) and false (the presumptive Democratic nominee turned his back on wounded soldiers).

The Times forgets to defend the notion that Barry is not a socialist. In fact, he isn’t: he is a Marxist and Authoritiarian, and his ideas and ideals move beyond the Socialist-Democracy model. And, so far, it looks like Obama decided that working out at the gym was more important then visiting the troops, since he could not use it as a photo-op.

And Obama does want to lose in Iraq. What else could you call a policy that has been calling for pulling all the combat troops out of Iraq before they should be?

Mr. Obama’s politics are hardly far-left, and anyone who has spent time in a socialist country knows how ridiculous that label is for any member of Congress. It would be bad enough if Mr. McCain honestly believed what he said, but we find that hard to imagine.

Wow. Now there is a deep denunciation of the notion that Obama is a socialist! “Hard to imagine.” As Ed Morrisey points out, this is the paper that had no problems with printing the General Betrayus ad. And if Obama’s politics are “hardly far-left,” I shudder to think what they consider to be far-left. In fact, Obama was the most liberal Senator. He favors massive redistribution of wealth from those who work to those who don’t. He favors nationalizing the healthcare and health insurance systems. He favors a weak national security policy based on talking without conditions to America’s enemies, with no possibility of military action. He favors open borders and complete and utter legalization of all methods of abortion. And the hit parade goes on and on. Sounds “far-left” to me.

All in all, I wonder if the Times will publish the same thing regarding when Obama and his MoveOn sycophants distort McCain’s record, assault him and his wife personally, and denigrate McCain’s military service and time as a POW? Oh, wait, they already are, and the Times hasn’t had anything negative to say about Barry and his Rat pack.

Like many, I have gotten myself on Barack’s email list, and sometimes the stuff is extremely amusing

William -

Barack likes to tell a story about the two of us standing backstage before his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention.

The way he tells it, he was too busy in the days before the convention to feel any pressure — but about an hour before the speech, I could tell he was getting a little nervous.

To break the tension, right before he went out on stage I leaned in close and said, “Just don’t screw it up, buddy.”

We laughed. And then Barack brought the house down.

Maybe she should be telling him that when he blows off visiting the troops when there is no photo-op in it.

But, he brought the house down with his soaring rhetoric, devoid of actual substance. Just like today and the past 2 years of running for president (which, of course, he promised not too do, but, hey, Barry likes to screw up by constantly lying).

At least she didn’t tell him not to get too stinky or flap his big ears.

Trackposted to Mark My Words, third world county, DragonLady’s World, Maggie’s Notebook, Right Truth, Adam’s Blog, The World According to Carl, DragonLady’s World, The Pink Flamingo, Cao’s Blog, Democrat=Socialist, , and Conservative Cat, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Hmm, interesting. Yesterday, Firedog-in-blackface-lake whined about Right Wing Blogosphere Completely Ignores Domestic Terrorism In Knoxville. Checking the blackface site today, there is no mention of Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar getting wacked by a Predator strike

One of al Qaeda’s top chemical and biological weapons experts was killed in an air strike by a CIA pilotless drone in a remote Pakistani border region, senior Pakistani intelligence officials told CBS News Tuesday morning.

Intelligence officials investigating the Sunday night missile attack confirmed that Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri was one of six men killed and his remains had been positively identified.

Al-Masri, an Egyptian national, became notorious for developing chemical and biological weapons for al Qaeda. He was known to have used a variety of animals, including dogs, cats and frogs in brutal experiments which often left the animals dead.

You would think that would be an important story for the folks who say that “Iraq is a distraction, we should be fighting in Afghanistan, and invading Pakistan like Barry says.” But, no. Crickets. But, Firedog-in-blackface-lake does have a piece claiming there are fake “terra alerts.” They take national security as seriously as Barry does. To say, not at all.

Well, anyhow, Masri is one more dead nutjob who we won’t have to worry about liberals complaining about our treatment of if he was stuck in the hoosegow. Then wanting him released.

It has been awhile since I did a dumpster dive into the fever swamps of the Democratic Underground, but, nothing has changed. The DUmmies are still insane, offensive, hate the military and those who served, and have a blame America first mentality

the48er: John McCain Is NOT a ‘War Hero’

Of all the bullshit in which McCain’s candidacy is grounded, none’s more offensive to me than the “war hero” crap. Actually, offensive doesn’t begin to capture it. Insane is more the word.

Though we’re often told about his five and a half years as a POW, what we never get is what matters most: an honest explanation of how, specifically, he wound up in that North Vietnamese prison in the first place.

There are two salient facts: (1) McCain participated in Operation Rolling Thunder, which killed at least 100,000 North Vietnamese — the 2008 equivalent of 1.8 million Americans: 600 times the number who died in the 9/11 attacks. (2) He helped attack a power plant in the middle of Hanoi. The plant had previously been off-limits to American bombers for fear of collateral damage.

To my mind, the bottom line in this matter is very, very simple: it’s not okay to help kill vast numbers of people who have done nothing wrong to you, and it’s not okay to destroy their infrastructure. Not even if bad people command you to do those things — it’s not okay.

And let’s be clear: John McCain was no 18-year-old draftee. He was a man of 31, and he was part of America’s permanent officer class. (His father and grandfather were four-star admirals.) That officer class helped devise the living hell that America inflicted on Southeast Asia.

In 2008 more than ever, hyper-militarized America needs to explore alternatives to the “diplomacy is for appeasers, send more troops” mentality that bred catastrophes in Vietnam, Iraq and elsewhere.

More about this and other McCain b.s. here.

Unhinged. Imagine if a conservative wrote that about Kerry. Apoplexy. There would be a run on Prozac. And I haven’t even gotten in to the comments yet! (some bad language beyond the jump)

I wonder why something like this is not making news? I wonder why other US Congress and Senate members are not complaining, too

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to prohibit Iraq from participating in the 2008 Olympic Games:

“This action by the IOC is dismaying and shallow, and it should be reversed at once. American soldiers – and the Iraqi citizens who have so bravely fought at their side – have given their lives to help Iraq join the community of free nations. It is an insult to them, and to the millions they gave their lives to liberate and defend, that the IOC is so wed to its arbitrary and selectively-enforced rules that it won’t allow Iraq to participate in the Olympic Games.

“The people of Iraq have endured a living hell because of the evil of Saddam Hussein and radical jihadists, and it’s sad that they now have to suffer this new indignity at the hands of rigid, inflexible international bureaucrats.

“I urge all Members of Congress, Democrat and Republican alike, to join me in calling on the IOC to immediately rescind its decision and allow the people of Iraq to participate in the 2008 Olympic Games.”

The issue is that the IOC banned Iraq from participating in the Olympics (which might actually be the best thing for the athletes health, mind you, due to the horrendous air quality in China) due to the claim of government interference. If that is the case, I wonder why most countries, including China, are not banned?

“We feel like this is an unjust attack on Iraq at a time when we need the world’s support,” said Maher al-Hilfi, 34, a Baghdad vegetable salesman and self-described sports fanatic who spent the day commiserating with fellow fans. “Sports is the only thing that brings unity to the Iraqis and brings us happiness — and now it has been taken away.”

Unfortunately, the world doesn’t seem to want to support Iraq, and the IOC apparently wants to idulge in a bit of bias. They sure didn’t seem to have a problem with Iraq participating when Saddam was in charge and doing his torture thing.

However, there are talks under way to reverse the decision. All while a smoggy haze covers Beijing just 11 days before the start of something very few really care to watch anymore, especially with all the restrictions, not to mention the inability to actually see the games live, and the certain restrictions by NBC of seeing highlights on any other channel.

From McClatchy Washington

The top U.S. military commander in Iraq isn’t buying the increasingly popular idea of a publicly stated timetable for American troop withdrawal.

Gen. David Petraeus, the Iraq commander, said in an interview with McClatchy that the situation in Iraq is too volatile to “project out, and to then try to plant a flag on, a particular date.”

With violence at its lowest levels of the war, politicians in both the United States and Iraq are getting behind the idea of a departure timetable. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was first, suggesting he would have combat troops home within 16 months of Inauguration Day. The idea got a big boost during his overseas trip, when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki indicated support for that general timeline.

Look, timelines are smart, when they are linked to conditions on the ground, when they, have concrete goals, and when they are not published to the enemy. I certainly hope that the government and the military have timelines. But, I do not need to know them. I do not necessarily trust the government, but, I do trust the military. And, I think they know what is going on better then folks who simply read the papers, and when it is best to say Aloha to Iraq.

Keep an eye on the comments section for the story: the moonbats are invading. One of them is cute, in that Patraeus should just keep his stupid military mouth shut. Typical.