Motley Moose – Archive

I’m in my last year of law school.  In my first year I made a good friend who’d had some time in IT before giving law school a try.  It didn’t work out.  The man worked like he was possessed by some particularly motivated demons, but it just wasn’t in him.  He moved to Pennsylvania and got a fantastic IT job, making more than he would have as an attorney.  We’ve remained good friends.

My friend considers himself a conservative.  He believes in a small government, low taxes, generally less regulation, and is moderate on social issues.  He’s a big believer in a strong national defense and he absolutely cannot stand the Clintons.  I mean at all.  He can go on for quite awhile about how much he cannot stand Bill or Hillary.

He’s voting for Obama and he’s made a donation to the Obama campaign.  And he ain’t the only one.

Rasmussen reports this morning:

Obama 52

McCain 45

The numbers yesterday and the day before were, 51-45.

Rasmussen observes:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows Barack Obama attracting 52% of the vote while John McCain earns 45%. That seven-point lead is Obama’s largest in nearly two weeks. This is also the first time since October 11 that the Democratic candidate has reached the 52% level of support, his highest total of the year.

Obama Leads All Midwestern States says the Big Ten Battleground Poll:

Illinois

Obama 61

McCain 32

Indiana

Obama 51

McCain 41

Iowa

Obama 52

McCain 39

Ohio

Obama 53

McCain 41

Michigan

Obama 58

McCain 36

Minnesota

Obama 57

McCain 38

Pennsylvania

Obama 52

McCain 41

Wisconsin

Obama 53

McCain 40

National Lead

Obama 52

McCain 42

Sarah Palin has come out! She IS an intellectual. Well thank God that’s settled.

Now while you might think this puts paid to the question of whether she’s anti-intellectual, clearly it doesn’t. Why not? Simple logic.

A: Palin, Michele Bachmann, and the propagandists on Fox News have made it clear that they want to root out “anti-Americanism” in the US Congress and other dark corners of radical activity. (As Jon Stewart pointed out, this seems like a prefix away from a committee investing Un-Americanism. Great idea!) Palin has since back-pedaled for her related remarks , and apologized for implying that certain Americans are more patriotic than others, but I think the point still stands.

B: Those people are, in fact, Americans,  and this is considerably less a matter of opinion than Palin’s calling herself an intellectual. It’s also less relative.

Ergo: You can be both an American and an anti-American. Therefore by the power vested in me by the state of confusion, I hereby declare that Sarah Palin can be both intellectual and an anti-intellectual.

With a demeanor that would go on to launch a thousand Saturday Night Live moments, Sarah Palin was cast upon the shores of the great ocean of national politics.  The world gazed in awe as this unknown force sailed into the crowded harbor, aghast at the brilliance of the silk sails and gleaming gold fittings.

(Cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama)

Zogby says that Obama has a 22 percent lead among early voters.  Gallup is tracking the number of people who already have voted, and he says 10 percent of all registered voters already have voted.

In the past three elections, the percentages of voters who voted are these:

1996 58.4% of registered voters went to the polls

2000 59.5% of registered voters went to the polls

2004 63.8% of registered voters went to the polls

My guess is that we will remain at least even with 2004, but the historic nature of this election may bring out a still greater percentage of voters.  If we assume that we will see the same rate of increase in 2008 over 2004 that we saw in 2004 over 2000, about 68.4% of registered voters will go the polls in 2008.  These assumptions would suggest that somewhere between 14.6% and 15.7% of the electorate that will cast ballots already has voted.  

If Zogby is correct about Obama’s 22-point margin in early voting, it means he must have something like 61% of the early vote compared to 39% of McCain’s early vote.  These assumptions, and they are wild guesses, would indicate that Obama is wracking up totals in early voting that will allow his margin a lot of comfort for tightening in the national polls as we approach election day, should that occur.

I swear to god I’m not making this up

You’ve no doubt heard about the wardrobe.

For anyone wondering if Mrs Palin’s trademark red jackets, the $2,500 (£1,530) Valentino outfit worn for her Republican convention acceptance speech, or even the $3,000 Louis Vuitton handbag that her six-year-old daughter, Piper, was holding on September 11, came from the wardrobe at her home in Wasilla, Alaska, they did not.

Okay, maybe it’s not Piper’s.  Maybe she was carrying it for her mom.  I dunno.  But this makes me madder than hell, and I want you folks to understand why.  That’s a Louis Vuitton handbag, and it cost $3,000.

This evening news roundup is brought to you by the Republican Party:

The New York Post whines that Joe Biden gets away with saying “stupid” things because he doesn’t have an “R” after his name. No, see, Biden gets away with saying stupid things because the Obama campaign chuckles about it and then chastises Biden or repudiates what he says. They don’t, generally, try to deny reality. The McCain campaign, on the other hand, try to dismiss Palin’s boneheaded comments as gotcha journalism or a trap or they try to spin what she says as the complete opposite of what she said.

NRO sniffles and says if Public financing is broke, Barack Obama is the one who broke it. Don’t tell me the campaign finance system is broken- Obama is winning because the market has demanded it. Isn’t that what the NRO gets starbursts over? Free market capitalism? Or is it just Sarah Palin?

Speaking of Sarah Palin, Wonkette reports, whoops! Sarah Palin is going to have to pay income taxes on that spiffy $150,000 wardrobe!. Gosh sakes, now, then, hopefully she can afford that since she’s just a plain-old working American, don’tcha know?

Last but not least, Jonah Goldberg Jonah claims that “In Alaska, the people OWN the oil,” so those $1,200 checks to each citizen aren’t socialism- hell, they’re downright patriotic!

So, in summation:

Cross-posted at MYDD

Last week I attended the Veterans & Military Families for Obama Rally in Fairfax, VA(real). There were many great speakers at this event, including Colin Powell’s deputy (COL Wilkerson). You can read more about the event here, and catch a biting indictment of Dick Cheney here. The highlight of the event was when CPT (Ret.) Paul Bucha spoke to the crowd.

I suggest you read the full citation for his Congressional Medal of Honor to get a better appreciation for this American Hero.  

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Bucha distinguished himself while serving as commanding officer, Company D, on a reconnaissance-in-force mission against enemy forces near Phuoc Vinh.

The company was inserted by helicopter into the suspected enemy stronghold to locate and destroy the enemy. During this period Capt. Bucha aggressively and courageously led his men in the destruction of enemy fortifications and base areas and eliminated scattered resistance impeding the advance of the company.

On 18 March while advancing to contact, the lead elements of the company became engaged by the heavy automatic weapon, heavy machine gun, rocket propelled grenade, claymore mine and small-arms fire of an estimated battalion-size force. Capt. Bucha, with complete disregard for his safety, moved to the threatened area to direct the defense and ordered reinforcements to the aid of the lead element. Seeing that his men were pinned down by heavy machine gun fire from a concealed bunker located some 40 meters to the front of the positions, Capt. Bucha crawled through the hail of fire to singlehandedly destroy the bunker with grenades.

During this heroic action Capt. Bucha received a painful shrapnel wound. Returning to the perimeter, he observed that his unit could not hold its position and repel the human wave assaults launched by the determined enemy. Capt. Bucha ordered the withdrawal of the unit elements and covered the withdrawal to positions of a company perimeter from which he could direct fire upon the charging enemy. When 1 friendly element retrieving casualties was ambushed and cut off from the perimeter, Capt. Bucha ordered them to feign death and he directed artillery fire around them.

During the night Capt. Bucha moved throughout the position, distributing ammunition, providing encouragement and insuring the integrity of the defense. He directed artillery, helicopter gunship and Air Force gunship fire on the enemy strong points and attacking forces, marking the positions with smoke grenades. Using flashlights in complete view of enemy snipers, he directed the medical evacuation of 3 air-ambulance loads of seriously wounded personnel and the helicopter supply of his company. At daybreak Capt. Bucha led a rescue party to recover the dead and wounded members of the ambushed element.

During the period of intensive combat, Capt. Bucha, by his extraordinary heroism, inspirational example, outstanding leadership and professional competence, led his company in the decimation of a superior enemy force which left 156 dead on the battlefield. His bravery and gallantry at the risk of his life are in the highest traditions of the military service, Capt. Bucha has reflected great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Video is now available from his speech, and is embedded below the fold.

(cross posted at kickin it with cg)

These “superhuman black men” will be coming on October 31st to support Barack Obama, according to Prophet Yahweh, Seer of Yahweh, Master UFO Caller.

He claims that these space beings are the Angels of Yahweh, the Creator of all things. And, they are talking to him, on a daily basis, via a sophisticated form of telepathic, non-verbal, none-talk, brain-to-brain communication. Most of the time, when they contact him, he is asleep.

Further, he notes that: ‘Unless I am misinterpreting my visions, it’s very likely that Yahweh’s angels are going to descend down from space, in one of their spaceships, on two different occasions, in a different, single ship, each time, and hover over my school, in Las Vegas, NV for three days so the media can film them.’

When asked why the spaceships will appear, Prophet boldly says that:

One of the many reasons why they will do this is to show support for Presidential candidate Barack Obama. This will be done so people will know that Obama is the best choice to lead America through the troublesome times to come.

However, he admits he might off about the date and the details. But really, they’re going to help Obama save the USA from Iran and Russia.  Video of Prophet Yaweh below:

You can’t make this stuff up.