Motley Moose – Archive

Yes, today this faithless heathen is smiling a bit broader, feeling a little better about the people of this nation and humanity in general. It’s not that I’m normally a cynic – I’m just a lowly realist – but last Saturday a woman named Marilyn Mock did something truly unreal: she selflessly saved the home of a total stranger.

This morning Barack Obama received what may prove to be the second most important endorsement of his presidential campaign. For the sake of party unity, obtaining Senator Clinton’s support was quintessential, but in terms of reaching out to Independents and Republicans, this is perhaps the ultimate endorsement.  Despite having donated $2,300 to longtime friend Senator John McCain’s campaign during the primaries, General Colin Powell endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the presidency today on Meet the Press.

Got some breaking news. The Associated Press, the New York Times, and CNN are reporting that Cheney has canceled an event for later this evening after doctors found that his problems with an abnormal heart rhythm have returned. He’ll be missing a campaign event for Marty Ozinga, who is running for the House against Democrat Debbie Halvorson, currently an Illinois state senator. Last year, when Cheney first presented with the problem, his normal heart rhythm was restored through a procedure called cardioversion, which uses an electrical impulse. He will be undergoing the same procedure later this afternoon.

It would appear that going negative isn’t “the way to go” these days. It isn’t what voters want to hear. McBush and Failin’ have been warning the electorate of Senator Obama’s “radical” associations for weeks now. But the scare tactics aren’t working.

All we’re left to ask is — why?

Because, Senator McCain, Americans are already scared. They’re frightened and looking for answers — and they’re not looking for them in the form of attack ads or aggressive stump speeches. They want to hear about the issues. They want to know how you’re going to lower the price of gas. They want to know how you plan to seek alternative sources energy. They want to know when they’ll be able to afford health insurance, or how they can avoid losing it. They want to know where the jobs are, why their jobs are moving overseas. Fortunately Senator Obama has some ideas on that, and he’s talking about the issues voters care about most.

Straight talk.

Apparently it’s a dying art.

John McCain was never a maverick. He was a staunch Republican whose positions deviated from those of his party only on occasion. But the one thing he had going for him was honesty and sincerity. He told the country what he believed and why he believed it, firmly and unapologetically. He stood up for his beliefs even if they were unpopular. He defended his principles. But somewhere along the line John McCain gave up. He sacrificed his principles, he surrendered to the sordid tactics of his party, the tactics he once despised and vocally denounced. To fully understand the magnitude of his fall, one must look back — a glance at the McCain of a month ago, really, is sufficient to understand the duplicity of his statements and positions, but the differences between the McCain of 2000 and the McCain of 2008 are staggering. A brief list compiled by blogger Alex Valentine shows the stark contrast between the two McCains:

And perhaps a bit of non-serious liveblogging. Who’s ready to giggle?

My pitiful account of Palin’s pathetic performance is below the fold. But here, for your viewing displeasure, we have Gov. Palin wearing an animal in the creepiest environment imaginable:

I take it back. Clowns are creepier. This pic would be scarier if she were surrounded by clowns.

That’s right, the GOP is terrified. They’re skittish, they’re nervous, they’re running scared. Not from Obama, of course.

No.

They’re afraid of Sarah Palin.

Honestly, can we blame them? Her record is sad enough, but her performance in interviews is abysmal. Anything unscripted, and she’s in trouble. Here we have Ms. Palin seeming none too sure about what that mysterious “Bush Doctrine” might be:

The other thread was getting a bit crowded and clogged. And here we go again.

It’s over. Okay, over 90 minutes of Obama smacking McFail. So… who had fun?

9:36 NOUN + VERB + POW

9:35 Wow… McCain compares Obama’s “inflexibility” (AKA, sticking to his guns on the issues) to the Bush administration. McCain says he’ll take care of the veterans and that they know he’ll take care of them. Really funny, considering his horrible voting record on veteran’s issues.

9:33 Obama says the economy is now a national security issue. Fantastic line.

9:31Question: what is the likelihood of another 9/11 attack? Is America safer?

McCain: Yes. Blah blah blah. And all of it would be lost if we followed Obama’s plan and had dates for withdrawal.

Obama: Brings it back to Afghanistan, the tactical errors made. Picked up on McCain’s comment about torture! Says engaging in torture “undermines” us. Good, nice catch. He’ll come back to this on the trail. Bad flip-flop, McGramps.

You almost have to laugh watching this much outrage coming out of Hollywood. I’ve never been one to pay much attention to the sleazy tabloids or the innumerable useless factoids about celebrities, but I have to admit, I’m enjoying the smackdown they’re giving Sarah Palin. Since the primaries ended, Hollywood has remained relatively quiet about the presidential race — until, of course, John McCain decided to put Palin in the spotlight. She is anathema to everything our liberal stars hold dear: her political ideology is positively prehistoric, the sort of positions born of nightmares. So naturally, our stars are reacting accordingly.

Here we have Gina Gershon toting a gun and wearing some kind of bathing suit. Clearly a devastating blow to the McCain campaign.

There’s been a lot of noise this cycle about Senator Barack Obama’s purported “problem with women,” a talking point which gained popularity during his historic battle for the nomination against Senator Hillary Clinton. Though Obama’s numbers dipped slightly after the GOP convention, polls indicate he is trending upward again. Conventional wisdom among the talking heads and doomsday prophets is that Senator John McCain’s vice presidential pick Sarah Palin might prove capable of pulling Clinton’s female supporters away from Obama, but unfortunately for the McCain campaign, his choice of an unvetted, little-known woman governor for vice president was woefully transparent.