Redstate

Posted at 2:39pm on Jul. 8, 2008 Part of the Problem

Obama Campaign Ad

By absentee

We've got to run a different kind of campaign. So we're not going to go around doing negative ads. We're going to keep it positive. We're going to talk about the issues." - Sen. Barack Obama

You know an attack ad when you see it. They have lots of red text and "ominous" stills. They have that voice. You've seen them. The DNC has been running them for months now against John McCain.

Senator Obama, though, is bringing a new kind of politics. Right?

If the New York Times knows it's a negative ad, then it's a negative ad. Negative, as in not "positive." As the McCain campaign said today, "Barack Obama's commitment to a new type of politics is officially over."

Read On ...

Posted in 2008 | campaign ads | Obamafiles — Comments (26)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:47pm on Jul. 2, 2008 Strange Women Lying In Ponds Distributing Swords is No Basis for a System of Government

The Obama Campaign Employs 'Monty Python Defense'

By absentee

If you listen to the noise machine on the left, you have developed a picture of John McCain's military service. From a comfortable position, feet up, in the passenger seat of a jet orbiting the earth, John McCain coldly and safely pushed buttons to dispense laser death on unsuspecting Vietnamese civilians. After some sort of emergency landing, John McCain stayed at a Hilton, from which he distributed communist propaganda videos for five or so years. When he returned home, he had an adminstrative authority over a group of planes. Later, he used a racial slur regarding the staff at that Hilton and highlighted the episode to pretend he was in the military.

It was only weeks ago that Max Cleland, in an interview with the New York Times, said "McCain is my friend and brother, and I love him dearly, but I think you learn something fighting on the ground, like me and John Kerry and Chuck Hagel did in Vietnam." They learned something, you see, which you do not learn coasting safely above or in bamboo cages below. The Democrats' service counts, McCain's doesn't. The article Cleland was quoted in, by the way, was about how "some" of McCain's "fellow veterans" thought his "different" Vietnam was responsible for his being so misguided on Iraq. You know, misguided like being right about the surge, supporting the war throughout, visiting the troops, that sort of thing. Obviously, he's out of touch.

How about Senator Jay Rockefeller a few weeks earlier? "McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit," he said. "What happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn’t know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues." McCain didn't care who he was indiscriminately destroying. He was just some white guy with electronics who likes killing people.

Rockefeller was really just doing exactly what you'd expect a Democrat politician to do: echoing the left media. Remember what Bill Maher said? "We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly."

Read On ...

Posted in 2008 | Obamafiles | Smearing And Sliming John McCain — Comments (37)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:37pm on Jun. 26, 2008 I Have A Dream

Or Rather, I Think I'm Having a Dream Right Now

By absentee

In a move that is sure to have you asking yourself "Did I actually wake up this morning?", NPR took Senator Obama to task this weekend. That's what I said: NPR.

Scott Simon, heard here in a podcast well worth the listen, wants to know if it just might be possible to question Obama as a candidate without being branded a bigot.

For choice quotes, you can hardly beat this one:

"To my knowledge, Senator McCain has never mentioned Senator Obama's race, much less in the tone Senator Obama implied. What has John McCain ever done or said to merit the charge that he's going to make Senator Obama's race an issue?"

The clean campaign has its rewards. The issue, of course, is Senator Obama's charge last week that the Republicans would, during the election, try and make people afraid of him. Here is the quote:

"We know what kind of campaign they're going to run," said the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. "They're going to try to make you afraid. They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. 'He's young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?'"

Read On ...

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | NPR | Shocked and Awed | What?! — Comments (16)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:01am on Jun. 24, 2008 Man and Superman ... and Man

The Incredible Reversible Man

By absentee

Senator Obama is Superman. He is the hero of the age. A post-modern poster boy, Obama is post-everything: post-racial, post-partisan, post-pastors, and post-primaries. He is black and white, and he is Muslim and Christian. He is Liberal and Conservative, American and African. He is man and he is woman.

Senator Obama is not merely Superman, though. He is supernormal, as well as paranormal and even extra normal. The halo and chest-"S" imagery embraced by the campaign and their familiars in the media illustrate this in post-religious pop splendor. He is the evolved man. Also Sprach Obama. So say we all.

Such is the myth of the man as it stands today. The primary trials have ended, the ascension has begun.

The veneer of post-perfection is, however, imperfect, and beneath the cape and halo the other Senator Obama is glimpsed. Of late the glimpses have been more frequent and apparent, as the surety of destined enthronement has reduced the trepidation of his inner Hulk. His sainthood is not yet complete, and when still this side of paradise, the enraptured can yet return to rationality through rage.

Posted in 2008 | Obamafiles | The Cult Of Barack Obama — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:44pm on Jun. 17, 2008 Disposable Heroes?

How Cheap Is the Well Being of a Soldier?

By absentee

The Washington Times has a lengthy and detailed exposé up this morning exposing negligent treatment of American fighting men and women.

Men and women suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder were given the drug Chantix as part of a smoking cessation study. Among the side effects of Chantix are psychosis and suicidal behavior. Read that again. Veterans suffering from PTSD were given a drug which can cause suicidal behavior.

The article highlights the story of Iraq war veteran James Elliott. Elliot participated in the "smoking-cessation treatment for veterans with post traumatic stress disorder" study, which was part of the Cooperative Studies Program (CSP).

Two videos are included with the story online, in which Elliott details his state of mind while taking Chantix. Eventually he became so disturbed by his experience that, during a psychotic episode, he was tasered by police while reaching for a concealed handgun.

Read on ...

Posted in Veteran Issues | War — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:33pm on Jun. 14, 2008 That's Not the Barack I Knew

Fighting Fire with Guns

By absentee

Senator Obama has one more prominent figure in his life about whom he's sure to claim "he's not the man I knew" ... Senator Barack Obama.

If you have not yet heard Senator Obama's calls to transform politics; if you haven't yet heard his claims of post-partisanship, his plans to bring us together ... well you don't, then, have a television or the internet. Likely, therefore, that you are not reading this, so stuff off.

For the rest of us, the relentless feel-goodery from the HopeChangeiac has been so total that I believe I have actually developed a rash which, in the right light, looks like it spells hope in flowers.

However, like Senator Obama's friends, coworkers, religious figures, and family members, that unity message has been thrown under the bus. Senator Obama's many bus escapades are surely contributing a near un-offsettable carbon footprint.

Addressing the possibility of Republican attacks against him to a crowd in the City of Brotherly Love yesterday, Senator Obama said "they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun." My, I feel so transformed. I guess that's what you call post-post-partisan. The Barack that Barack used to know had a different message:

Ahh, memories.

Of course, the rhetoric has long been undermined by deeds, as the campaign has used distortion and age-mongering against Senator McCain for months.

Still, it's amusing that one of the "guns" Senator Obama has drawn is his "Fight the Smears" website, (presumably the product of his crack cybernauts) which is prominently headed with a quote from Senator Obama: "What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon -- that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first."

We are always Americans first. At least, the we that he used to know.

Posted in 2008 | Hope and Change | Obamafiles — Comments (12)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:34pm on Jun. 11, 2008 Pink Equals Green

A Radical Obama Supporter? How Unusual!!

By absentee

Over at Politico, Jonathan Martin has a blog up about another Obama radical. This time, it's big time campaign bundler and Code Pink co-Founder Jodie Evans.

Evans is a notorious figure, notorious most recently for an inflammatory interview where she suggested that Osama bin Laden was basically being a reasonable chap defending his home:

Jodie Evans:… "We were attacked because we were in Saudi Arabia, that was the message of Osama, was that because we had our bases in the Middle East, he attacked the United States."

Paul A. Ibbetson: "Do you think that's a valid argument?"

Evans: "Sure. Why do we have bases in the Middle East? We totally violated the rights of that country. Why do we get to have bases in the Middle East?"

You can catch the audio here.

Code Pink is, of course, famous for their disruption of Congressional hearings, and for casting spells against Marine Recruiting Stations. Yes, that's right, spells.

There's more, read on ...

Posted in Code Pink | Endorsements | Obamafiles — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:58am on Jun. 11, 2008 Obama's *snicker* 'War Room'

By absentee

Poor, poor Barack. So many vicious rumors to discuss, so few teleprompters available to tell him what to say about them. Why is the internet so unfair?

Well he's mad, and he's not gonna take it anymore. Steve Foley at the Minority Report blog reports that Barack Obama is launching an internet "War Room" to fight back. According to the Times Online, a "crack team of cybernauts will form a rapid response internet 'war room' to track and respond aggressively to online rumours that Barack Obama is unpatriotic and a Muslim."

Just read this totally objective excerpt:

As he gears up for his general election fight against John McCain, Mr Obama and his chief advisers are aware of the danger of such rumours, amid polling data showing that a significant number of Americans believe he is a Muslim or are suspicious about his background. Such doubts were a factor in his poor showing with white, blue-collar voters during his primary battle with Hillary Clinton.

In recent days Mr Obama has — unprompted — brought up the subject of the chain e-mails and blog sites making the false claims. Some state that he is a radical Muslim who was sworn in as a US senator on the Koran; others that he sympathises with Palestinian radicals. Many focus on his middle name of Hussein, which was taken from his Kenyan father.

Read on ...

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | War Rooms — Comments (27)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:27pm on Jun. 2, 2008 What Obama Didn't Say

AND NEITHER DID THE PRESS

By absentee

The media machine is quite something to behold. The process of taking an untruth, an exaggeration, or a misstatement, and turning it into a Known Fact™ is fascinating, if frightening. Take Scott McClellan, for example. Once you thresh the narrative, sort through the interviews, headlines and hype, you find there's nothing there. Here's a business plan for you.

Thank me later.

It's been the same throughout Senator Obama's storied campaign. The idea is that he's a transformative figure. He's a Christ for politics, healing the sick with his perfected health care, turning oil to wine, and making the rivers run clear and blue.

Of course, the truth is slightly less divine. His campaign has been a series of surrogate scandals, personal scandals, gaffes, mistakes, and oopsies to have easily warranted dumb guy treatment on shows like Saturday Night Live; Quayle's potato has nothing on Obama's 10,000 dead. Nevertheless, he yet glides on a soft cloud of adoration. He is the untouchable, the unassailable. He is the Obama. At least in the press it is so.

So now we have another "narrative" spreading. Witness an LA Times editorial from this morning. The dismayed tone is regretful, shaming the rest of us for hurting this poor church, for separating the Obama from his flock. The Washington Post ran a story that is filled with a number of interesting facts, but which too has a tone of mournful sadness. The New York Times reports on the "battered" congregants of Trinity, who, we are assured, will "go on worshiping as ever."

Poor Barack, pushed from his church home by an evil nation. Poor Trinity, suffering at the unjust, unseen hand of infamy. Tragic.

There is a lot that isn't being said in these obituaries. Reporters and columnists have happily jumped on the new meme that it's all a big, unfair, out of context comedy of errors. It is immediately being taken for granted that the church really hadn't done wrong in the first place. Victims of circumstance and the cruelty of selective YouTubery. Wright was really right most of the time. Moss is mostly benign. Father Pfleger is a friendly but infrequent visitor, not representative. Yes the press is leaving out a lot of information, and why not? They take their cues from the Obama, and the Obama had a lot to not say as well.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Obamafiles | swooning press | Trinity United Church of Christ — Comments (17)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:08pm on May 31, 2008 DNC Rules Committee Open Thread

Or "Why You Should Buy Orville Redenbacher Stock"

By absentee

The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting today to determine what to do with Florida and Michigan and, by extension, Hillary Clinton. If you have CSPAN, turn it on. There's some classic infighting.

Michigan presented their bid first. They have a proposal to use the votes cast, the exit polls and their survey of the uncounted write-in votes in order to come up with their proposed delegate allocation.

Don Fowler, Committee Member from SC and Hillary Clinton Supporter, had this to say:

"I feel a little bit like Alice in Wonderland because on the one hand we have hard votes and then the other hand we want to discount the hard votes with exit polls. And ... if we could do that John Kerry would be President of the United States now."

Delightful. "You are stealing the vote just like BUSH!!!!! did" is how I'd summarize that tidbit.

Then there's this gem:

"It is my understanding that the four candidates in question voluntarily withdrew their names from the Michigan ballot. No party rule required them to do that. The DNC did not exhort them to do that; And the pledge that was entered into among the four early states and eight presidential candidates made no mention, much less any requirement that they withdraw their names, and that was a completely voluntary effort. Some have said that some candidates withdrew their name from that Michigan ballot to curry favor with the likes of Iowa and I just want to understand ... in terms of the decision they made, that was a voluntary decision."
Harold Ickes, Committee Member from DC and Hillary Clinton Campaign adviser.

Ahhh, superb. This is going to be a good day. RedState's Moe Lane will be covering the protests when he returns to safety later today. In the meantime, here's a little taste:

OPEN THREAD

Posted in 2008 | Best Democratic Primary EVER! — Comments (34)/ Email this page » / Read More »