Democracy Has Prevailed.

September 11, 2008

Enough is Enough

The Text:
Some of you may have -- I'm assuming you guys have heard this, watching the news. I'm talking about John McCain's economic politics, I say, "This is more of the same, you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig."

And suddenly they say, "Oh, you must be talking about the governor of Alaska."

[Laughter from audience]

See it would be funny, it would be funny except -- of course the news media all decided that that was the lead story yesterday. They'd much rather have the story -- this is the McCain campaign -- would much rather have the story about phony and foolish diversions than about the future.

This happens every election cycle. Every four years. This is what we do. We've got an energy crisis. We have an education system that is not working for too many of our children and making us less competitive. We have an economy that is creating hardship for families all across America. We've got two wars going on, veterans coming home not being cared for -- and this is what they want to talk about! this is what they want to spend two of the last 55 days talking about.

You know who ends up losing at the end of the day? It's not the Democratic candidate, It's not the republican candidate. It's you, the American people. because then we go another year or another four years or another eight years without addressing the issues that matter to you. Enough.

I don't care what they say about me, but I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage and swift-boat politics. Enough is enough.

The Washington Post Editorial Board seems to agree:
IT'S HARD to think of a presidential campaign with a wider chasm between the seriousness of the issues confronting the country and the triviality, so far anyway, of the political discourse. On a day when the Congressional Budget Offiice warned of looming deficits and a grim economic outlook, when the stock market faltered even in the wake of the government's rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, when President Bush discussed the road ahead in Iraq and Afghanistan, on what did the campaign of Sen. John McCain spend its energy? A conference call to denounce Sen. Barack Obama for using the phrase "lipstick on a pig" and a new television ad accusing the Democrat of wanting to teach kindergartners about sex before they learn to read.

Mr. Obama's supposedly offending remark was not only not offensive -- it also was not directed at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. "The other side, suddenly, they're saying 'we're for change too,' " Mr. Obama said. "You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig." With a woman on the ticket, apparently all references to cosmetics -- or pork of the non-bridge variety, for that matter -- are forbidden. "Sen. Obama owes Gov. Palin an apology," sniffed former Massachusetts governor Jane Swift. "Calling a very prominent female governor of one of our states a pig is not exactly what we want to see." No matter that Mr. McCain used the lipstick-on-a-pig phrase himself, referring to (female) Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's health-care plan, or that (female) former McCain aide Torie Clarke wrote a book with that title. In the heat of a campaign, operatives will pounce on any misstep and play to the referees over any arguable foul. We understand that, and certainly the Obama campaign has not been above such tactics. But this cynical use of the gender card is unusually silly.

Not to mention breathtakingly dishonest,

And that sex ed ad? A serious distortion and truly vile.

Andrew Sullivan put it best:
McCain has demonstrated in the last two months that he does not have the character to be president of the United States.
Enough.

22 comments:

Sherry Pasquarello said...

yes, finally. 1 word says it perfectly.

enough.

EdHeath said...

For a couple of weeks now I have been seeing the McCain campaign (in the form of senior staffers) and hearing Republican "Strategists" say this campaign is "not about issues". This despite the eighty percent of Americans who say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Barack Obama is starting to get fired up again, and it is coming through in the small clips we see of him; he is now fired up about the McCain smear campaign.

It is clear to me that Sarah Palin is nothing more than an attention-getting gimmick as a Vice Presidential candidate. She apparently really did go to five different undergraduate schools. She is very slippery, she knows how to gauge public opinion and takes popular positions, but if they are at all controversial she tries to at least partially cover both sides. So she supported the bridge to nowhere when running for Governor, dropped it when it threatened to make Alaska the poster child for Congressional corruption, but still took the money. She supports both abstinence-only education and teaching about condoms, she supports teaching creationism and evolution “side by side” and letting the kids decide what they believe. And she is a wily politician, appointing industry insiders and lobbyists to oversight agencies (exactly like George Bush and Ronald Reagan). She wanted to send Alaskan’s a check for $1200 (not the $3,000 John K. claimed), an energy rebate, perhaps from an additional windfall profits tax Mrs Palin had levied on oil companies in Alaska (presumably all with the cooperation of the state legislature).

The McCain campaign has used innuendo and snickered remarks to attack the Obama campaign from any direction it can. The “community organizer” sneers, the remarks made after Obama defended himself about the lipstick line – a McCain spokeman said “The buck never stops with this guy”, which a newspaper characterized as an animal reference. But we all know what else “buck” stands for (and I am not talking about the original meaning of the quote, a dollar bill). Now there is a new “wolves” ad, like the Bush ad from (I believe) 2004. Apparently there is never enough slander and slime the McCain campaign can dish out. And – lol – according to the polls it is working, working class voters without a college degree want any excuse not to vote for a black man.

Now let the lol’s begin.

Mike Usman said...

Unfortunately, it's not enough. Every four years, the Dems lose the presidency but picking an intellectual candidate with excellent credentials. The Dem candidate then tries to run on issues, pulling out facts, statistics and policy analysis. The Repubs, on the other hand, produce candidates of marginal intellectual capacity and little political experience (McCain being an exception to the latter rule). They they then campaign on emotion, rather than substance...and win every time.

John K. said...

John K: The entire jist of this post comes down to: Bawaaaa make the evil Republicans stop. Its not fair. LMAO I love that Democrat whine. LOL LOL

John K. said...

John K: And how about that Biden guy. Telling people Hillary would have been a better choice than him. LOL LOL That is as funny as Biden telling that state rep in the wheel chair to stand up. Does he think he is Hussein Obama?

John K. said...

John K: Hey, let's bring up issues. Like Hussein Obama saying tax cuts for the rich, not such a good idea in a recession. LMAO LMAO Why, Oh I don't know, maybe because of trickle down economics. LMAO and as Sherry would respond, Make him stop. Bawaaaaa.

Social Justice NPC Anti-Paladin™ said...

The "true" independent quoting the "true" conservative.
This sums up Excitable Andy perfectly.
Andrew Sullivan: I don't read him anymore, as anything more than two minutes at his site leaves me feeling I need a shower. Just what has happened to this man over the past five years to leave him as he is today? He's the personification of a bitter old queen, and were he less despicable, he'd be fit to mock. And while I've never thought Andy to be the brightest of souls, you'd think an HIV-positive fudgepacker might hesitate a moment or two before demanding private citizens make their sex lives a public concern on the basis of rumor… wouldn't you?

Burgher Jon said...

A couple things:

- Is it ok for John K. to be drunk this early in the morning? Those comments don't make any sense.

- I've used "Lipstick on a Pig" since Palin was named to McCain's ticket and don't consider myself sexist, just a frequent user of antiquated expressions.

- Shouldn't feminists be offended that any reference to cosmetics is immediately infered to be about Palin eventhough Obama, Biden and McCain all wear makeup on TV interviews?

- Mr. Usman are you aware that 1 of the last 2 presidents has been an intellectual dem? Are we seriously saying that Gore or Kerry were adequate intellectuals, maybe its our fault we lost the last 2 elections.

- This post is about ONE comment from Obama and McCains reaction, and in THIS case John McCain had no right to imply Obama called Palin a pig. Deep down I'm sure even McCain knows that.

Anonymous said...

The best strategy is to let Palinpalooza burn itself out, and start running issue ads.

Obama's right. The deficit is $408B, and McCain wants to cut taxes. Unemployment is at a 6-yr high, and, in addition to losing their jobs, people are losing their employer-based health care. McCain wants to cut taxes. The Russians and Venezuelans are best buddies, and Russian bombers are landing in Venezuela. McCain wants to cut taxes.......

johnk: What is the "G"ist of John McCain's platform to deal with these problems?

Bram Reichbaum said...

The only problem with that formulation is that many Americans don't consider themselves expert on issues. They don't have confidence in whether Democrats or Republicans are generally correct on tax policy, whether or not there is man-made global warming, and they don't have an opinion on who to trust to lead the country out of a recession.

However, everyone feels like they're an expert on judging people's "character". And let's not forget, if you want the country to remain safe, it's helpful to seem "tough". So maybe the Republicans are right, this election isn't about issues.

Obama needs to put it away, and make people feel warm and fuzzy about liberalism, while feeling angry and suspicious toward contemporary Republicanism once and for all. A tall order, but exactly the kind of thing that we nominated him for.

EdHeath said...

What's Joel Salatin say about lipstick on a pig? (I must have missed or forgot that part of the Omnivore's Dilema - or maybe its in something Salatin himself wrote, none of which I have read). I can probably find it using Google or the Wikipedia.

I agree with part of what Bram said, that people do not trust politicians even while they listen hard. The Republicans are very good at grabbing the gut issues and staying with them. Sarah Palin has successfully been defined as a religious soccer mom, more one of us than one of them. So any attack on her now (short of an indictment) smacks of politicians trying to get rid of Jefferson Smith.

But I think hearing about the number of foreclosures, our brief and inexplicable flirtation with really high gas prices and the continuing rise in the prices of a lot of other things should be having an impact on people. Some 88% say the country is on the wrong track. The only reason I can think that so many people do not want to vote for Obama is that they don’t want to vote for a black man. If Obama can just get to those people, maybe look straight in the camera and ask, are you better off than you were eight years ago. And then ask if you can wait four more years for the government to fix bridges, to encourage new sources of alternative energy, to get us out of Iraq and to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

It may not be that Obama needs to make us so much warm and fuzzy about liberalism, as inspired and motivated about a government that wants us to help our fellow citizens, not just to serve in the military. Obama also does need (as Bram says) to get us angry (again) about the Republicans. “They must think you’re stupid” and “It’s as if they are proud of being ignorant” are a start, but Obama needs to do more.

Bob said...

John K., You are an idiot. You are a loser. LMAO LMAO LMAO

Now say something else stupid. LOL
===
Vote Obama!

John K. said...

John K: Listening to Limbaugh. Looks like the Hussein Obama comments referring to Palin as a pig have not stopped. Liberal response. Make it stop. Make then shut up. Its not fair. By the way, Olbermouth, was really funny last night. LMAO

John K. said...

John K: So let's look at another Hussein Obama position now that we have debunked his tax proposal. "The surge in Iraq is working." LMAO I told you Obama ain't going to pull out of Iraq. He just wants credit for the victory. Stay tuned folks. This is as funny as Hussein Obama on Letterman.

Anonymous said...

johnk,

Rush's views are the same now, as they were when he was stoned on OxyContin.

And you still buy into them.

LOL!

John K. said...

John K: Kimber--Do you think Limbaugh got his drugs from Hussein Obama. He used coke during his college days. Some people think he even sold them to make a few dollars to help out with those college expenses.

John K. said...

John K: I am going to help you left wing kooks out. Sherry says enough, okay here is the plan. About Sept 25th have screaming Howard Dean convene another DNC convention. Only for about one and a half days in some city like Miami or Cleveland. Throw Biden off the ticket and put Hillary on. If she does not accept the nomination then have Matt Damon accept the nomination. Didn't he play a VP or something in the movies? LOL LOL LOL LMAO See how easy it is. Make him stop. Its not fair. John K. is mocking us. LMAO Lipstick on a pig. The current face of the democratic party.

Anonymous said...

johnk,

I think Limbaugh got his drugs from his maid. He gave her the money, and she bought the Oxy for him, in a Denny's parking lot, if memory serves.

Of course, the maid couldn't afford Roy Black, so she's in jail, and Rush is still making millions off fools like you.

LOL!

Bob said...

JohnK. why don't you get your own blog? Or do you already have one but are afraid of sharing the address? Or maybe you have one, but no one cares about it?
====
I think you're just a leach with no friends, no family, and no job that's filling time with the only way you know how to get social interaction - desperately trying to annoy bloggers for any response that makes you feel like you matter.
You're such a loser. LMAO
Sucks to be you.
===
Vote Obama!

EdHeath said...

According to MacYapper, which I just glanced at, the National Enquirer has all sorts of revelations about the Palins. Oldest daughter and son heavy drug users, Sarah having an affair. Don't know whether we should trust it or not, but we can't ignore it or John K will become hysterical.

Joshua said...

Yeah, was just about to post the Enquirer URL. I don't know how many grains of salt it should be worth. On the one hand, it's the Enquirer. Anyone will say anything to take their big sacks of cash. On the other hand, they did break the Edwards story, Jesse Jackson having an illegitimate child, and numerous stuff on OJ Simpson. But on the other hand, they got Gary Condit all wrong. I don't know what to say.

Clyde Wynant said...

Ed -

Good stuff. Yes, we have the tendency to get all gushy and wonkish about our candidates...when what we need are kickass Liberals! This is why Clinton was successful. I know he wasn't everything a Liberal might want, but he had the formula. He could WIN!

I am a white man and I was actually moved the night Obama was nominated, 'cause I thought, "Good god, we've actually done this! We have an African-American candidate for the Presidency!" And, in many ways, it's "not a big deal." Understand me; it IS a big deal, but the fact that it's not SO AMAZING is what really makes it amazing. But I digress....

Obama and his people need to step up RIGHT NOW. They need to speak to those people who are suffering, to those people who have lost their homes, or are watching their 401ks plummet. They need to TOTALLY TRASH the personal politics and make it clear that he is the candidate who will get us going again, not some washed up DC hack who is still living off his Viet Nam heroism.

Tomorrow is what they need to talk about...and remind voters that, as a 72 year old codger, McCain might not BE HERE tomorrow...when all those problems come crashing down on us!

Clyde