I received some baffled and rather negative comments from friends about my little item on Biden’s age and infirmities.
I should have been more direct. The allusion was to Cheney, and was meant to point out the weird mirror-like characteristics of the election. This time the Vietnam veteran is McCain, but while Kerry was a hero, McCain was a bumbling hot dogger who lost four planes in training before getting shot down while bombing innocent civilians. Could Kerry have ever run for dog catcher if he had publicly confessed to war crimes after (supposedly) breaking under torture?

The Democrats lost me when Kucinich dropped out, although I was concerned about his wife’s tongue stud. Do you think she takes it out when she gives him head? Even I am not radical enough to want tongue studs in the White House. But Kucinich came up 100% when I took one of those tests that recommend whom you should you vote for based on your beliefs.
Biden is all right, I guess, but I would have preferred someone younger and more progressive. He does have a lot of very bad anti-drug zealot karma, but finding a non-drug warrior was obviously too much to expect. Obama is not exactly the man from Norml either. Read more »

Noting the voter preference for young presidents and health-afflicted older vice presidents, Democrats choose gray-haired, jowly veep candidate with brain damage.
Obama Chooses Biden as Running Mate

He was forced to quit the 1988 presidential race in the face of accusations that he had plagiarized part of a speech from Neil Kinnock, the British Labor Party leader. Shortly afterward, he was found to have suffered two aneurysms.
Did I mention that I’m 72?

Correction: Biden did not plagiarize Kinnock. From Media Matters: “Media outlets reported allegations Biden plagiarized Kinnock, but not that he had previously credited him.” I regret repeating the smear. You might also be interested in “A clarification: where I really stand on Obama and Biden.”

Click image to purchase a bumper sticker, or contact me for a file you can send friends or use to make your own.

… that he can’t remember how many houses he owns:

Politico:Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

“I think — I’ll have my staff get to you,” McCain told us in Las Cruces, N.M. “It’s condominiums where — I’ll have them get to you.”

Here’s a site devoted to John McCain is so old… jokes:

“John McCain is so old … the last time he got an erection his wife assumed it was rigor mortis.”

Read more »

“Much as the federal government may prefer that California keep medical marijuana illegal, it cannot force the state to do so.” –Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski

SAN JOSE, CA (ACLU) — In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a federal court today held that the U.S. Constitution bars deliberate subversion by the federal government of state medical marijuana laws.

“Utilizing selective arrests and prosecutions, the federal government has sought to sabotage California’s reasoned approach to medical marijuana use,” said Graham Boyd, Director of the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project. “For the first time, a court has recognized that a calculated plan by the federal government to undercut state medical marijuana laws is patently unconstitutional. Today’s decision forecasts an end to any organized federal effort to sabotage state medical marijuana laws.”

Read more »

Gulp.

“It was one of Washington’s biggest scandals. And the Republican power broker Ralph Reed was in the middle of it. In deep with convicted felon and lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

“But when the Senate investigated, the senator in charge never even called Reed to testify….And that senator? John McCain. And who’s now raising money for McCain’s campaign? Ralph Reed. For 26 years in Washington, John McCain’s played the same old games. We just can’t afford more of the same.”

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Senator McCain I truly hope you get the opportunity to chase Bin Laden right to the gates of hell and push him in as you stated on your forum. If we don’t reenact the draft I don’t think we will have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell.

JOHN MCCAIN: Ma’am let me say that I don’t disagree with anything you said and thank you and I am grateful for your support of all of our veterans.

(Town Hall; Las Cruces, NM 08/20/08)
Thanks to http://progressiveaccountability.org/

By Bill Berkowitz

OAKLAND, California, Aug 20 (IPS) – Right-wing groups are stepping up their campaign against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, with two new books on the best-seller lists, another on the verge of publication, and a full-length documentary that will premiere during the party conventions later this month. Read more »

“Our biggest financiers are China, Russia and the gulf states,” Roubini noted. “These are rivals, not allies.” Read more »

Emily, the woman in the video above created by ImageMetrics above, is one of the first animations to have crossed a barrier known as ‘uncanny valley’ — the perception that animation looks less realistic as it approaches human likeness.

By Walter Brasch

Executive management at the Allentown Morning Call recently laid off more than two dozen persons from its newsroom, most of them veteran reporters drawing higher salaries. Management plans to cut 35–40 positions, according to a letter sent by publisher Timothy Johnson. The cuts are about one-fourth of the news staff. The remaining reporters are being told to write more stories under the same deadline constraints. Coverage of local meetings has been put into secondary importance; bureaus have been combined. The Morning Call is not alone. Read more »

Got ammo? Shoot a Democrat. An actual sweatshirt from a right wing website served by CafePress.

By George Friedman

The Russian invasion of Georgia has not changed the balance of power in Eurasia. It simply announced that the balance of power had already shifted. The United States has been absorbed in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as potential conflict with Iran and a destabilizing situation in Pakistan. It has no strategic ground forces in reserve and is in no position to intervene on the Russian periphery. This, as we have argued, has opened a window of opportunity for the Russians to reassert their influence in the former Soviet sphere. Moscow did not have to concern itself with the potential response of the United States or Europe; hence, the invasion did not shift the balance of power. The balance of power had already shifted, and it was up to the Russians when to make this public. They did that Aug. 8. Read more »