...My Favorite Consignment Shop in Anchorage

Does anyone believe this malarkey? The RNC spent $150,000 on a wardrobe for Sarah Palin and her family, I suppose to upgrade their look for the campaign, and politically, it backfired, embarrassing Governor "I'm Just an Average American Like You" Palin. Yesterday on the campaign trail, she sought to tamp down the flap about the wardrobe, asserting that the clothes are not her property, that it's all just for stagecraft to make things look good, and that she's "back to wearing my own clothes from my favorite consignment shop in Anchorage, Alaska."

Give me a break! She's the governor of a state! She's not wearing consignment shop clothes! Seriously, anyone who falls for that should have their head examined. Governor Palin and her husband, according to federal disclosures reported by the Associated Press, are worth about 1.2 million dollars, and they had an income in 2007 of $230,000 - which does not include the $17,000 worth of per diem she was paid by the state for 312 nights of staying in her own home since she was elected to office. Now, I know she has five kids, which certainly eats into a person's wardrobe budget, and I know that of the four people running for high office, Gov. Palin is the least well-off, especially when compared to the person at the top of her ticket, but I just don't buy the consignment shop story.

In the whole scheme of things, perhaps this isn't important, but I think it shows a certain amount of disingenuousness that runs counter to her image as a "maverick" - it just seems like it comes right out of the playbook of your standard-issue politician.

She also said, “The double standard here, gosh, we don’t even want to waste our time.” Does anyone have any idea what she's talking about? What's the double standard?

-EB

Updated 10:20am: Well, according to this column by Maureen Dowd, Governor Palin did, at one point, shop at a consignment store called "Out of the Closet." That said, I'm still not buying her assertion that she's currently wearing consignment shop clothes on the trail. Dowd makes an interesting point in her column - for all the cries of sexism that the Republicans have been throwing at the media and critics of Gov. Palin, it's really the McCain campaign and RNC that are guilty of sexism, in how they have felt the need to gloss-up and glam-up the governor with expensive clothes and a make-up artist that was paid more than anyone on the campaign for the first two weeks of October - more than $20,000! Rather than letting Palin be Palin, as I've heard it said by conservatives, they've been playing, as Dowd puts it, "Caribou Barbie." So, honestly, if Palin is pissed off about how the campaign has handled her, and is concerned that she's been tarnished by this, and in some way diminished by it, she's got every right to be. But it still doesn't make her qualified to be second-in-line for the presidency.

Live-Blogging the Early Vote in Georgia

Today, I voted.

Georgia is one of the early voting states, and turnout here has been huge - today was no exception:
While waiting on line, I thought to myself, I'd really like to be live-blogging this, but I'm sans Blackberry and/or iPhone (which I openly covet). But I had a notebook with me, and a pen, and the will to step back into the 2oth century to record my thoughts. I have scanned them, and I share my voting experience with you below. (Click each page for a larger, readable image.)





Three hours in line! In the end, I did get my Chick-Fil-A reward:
...although I think a better reward would be an Obama victory on November 4. But damn, that chicken sandwich was good.

-EB

Twelve Days to Go...

...and I have been hit with some kind of election malaise, a weariness born, I think, out of the 24 hour news cycle, and my addiction to the minutiae that comes out of that news cycle.

But it's not just that. I've grown weary of the flat-out lying that's coming out of the McCain campaign. They're not even trying to win on issues now - they're trying to win on fear. Of Obama the terrorist sympathizer. Of Obama the socialist. Of Obama the sex-education for kindergartners advocate. Of Obama the government-run health care advocate. And on and on and on, ad infinitum, stretching the truth until it breaks. You can find a collection of the lying, detailing the robocalls and the misleading mailers, here at Talking Points Memo.

Both campaigns engage in distortion, but the McCain campaign just takes it to new levels. The thing that's wearing me out is the zeal with which they seem to engaging in this nonsense, especially McCain's running mate, Governor Sarah "I'm-just-like-you-everyday-Americans-just-don't-mind-the-$150,000-designer-wardrobe-that-costs-more-than-what-most-of-you-pro-America-folks-who-come-to-my-rallies-earn-in-two-or-three-years" Palin. Commie pinko liberal that I am, I was listening to NPR's All Things Considered on the way home from picking up my daughter, and they played a clip from a Palin speech she gave today at a rally in Troy, Michigan (or Ohio - it's unclear). (Here's a link to it.) The gist of the clip is that Palin, smug as ever, credits folk hero Joe the Plumber for getting Barack Obama to say in plain language that he wants to "spread the wealth," and then bashes Joe Biden for saying paying higher taxes is patriotic, before saying that it all sounds like "socialism" to Joe the Plumber "who is speaking for all Americans worried about their economic future," and that "now is not the time to experiment with socialism." To which the crowd responds with loud cheers and jeers. Can I remind the Governor that out of economic necessity, the Treasury Department, led by the former chair of GOLDMAN SACHS, JUST NATIONALIZED THE FREAKING BANKING SYSTEM! So clearly, our government, and our Republican Fed Chairman, decided that it is time to experiment with socialism, at least on a temporary basis.

(Dialing it back now.)

Somehow, she and McCain have these people hoodwinked that they are going to do better under McCain's tax plan then Obama's, which is going to cut taxes for people making less than $250,000 a year. It's probably a safe argument that most of the people at that rally would benefit from the Obama tax plan. I have no problem with anyone who takes issue with the way taxes work in this country - it's a legitimate argument to be had there - but we have a progressive tax system for a reason, and that is so those who don't make much money either don't have more taken out of their pockets, and those who can afford to pay more do so - and with the huge income disparity in this country, the top 1% aren't going to miss the few extra dollars they're going to have to pay - never mind that they're still going to be paying less in taxes then they were under Reagan. And paying slightly higher taxes right now to help bail our country out of this mess we're all in together is patriotic. Sacrifice is patriotic. That's not something that our current president or his would-be Republican successors seem to understand.

Anyway, they also have people going around saying Obama is a socialist. He's not a socialist. I know this is an Obama talking point, but if he were really a socialist, why would he have the support of a capitalist like Warren Buffett, the most respected businessman in the United States? The socialist nonsense, the palling around with terrorist nonsense, the do we really know who Obama is nonsense is all just designed to scare people into thinking that if Obama wins and takes office, he's going to unveil a secret evil agenda and sell out our country to the United Nations and bow down to terrorists. It's small-minded rhetoric intended to play into the conspiracy theories we seem to buy into all to easily in this country.

I'm also tired of the way McCain and Palin have been hammering Obama on how well he speaks. (Somehow eloquence and intelligence are supposed to be bad things, threatening and different to the "everyday Americans" Governor Palin is so fond of talking about.) She intimates in the NPR clip that Obama has not been speaking clearly about his tax plans - and nothing could be further from the truth. He's been clear and consistent about his intentions all along. All you had to do to know this is pay attention. Of course, people not paying attention to what is actually true is what McCain and Palin are counting on now. After all, if you can't make inroads with voters on issues, half-truths and outright lies are all you've got.

-EB
p.s. I think I've worked my way out of my malaise. Blogging is good therapy.

Those Sharp LCD HD TV Ads

I'm watching the world series, and Sharp has bought a lot of time for those freaky ads featuring a professor waxing on about the wonders of Sharp's LCD technology. Y'know, that guy in the picture below. I was thinking I can't be the only person who is somewhat put off by these ads, the constant repetition by the professor of "LCD TV!", and the extremely tight close-ups of the prof, which I can't seem to find a still of on this wondrous thing we call the internet. And it turns out not only am I right about not being the first person to be bothered by these commercials, I'm also not the first person to blog about it (which is less of a surprise). Shout out to the group blog Salt In Wound, from whom I have cribbed the still, for beating me to the punch.



-EB

Memo to the RNC Re: $150,000 Clothing Budget

Republican National Committee, I think you have been very generous with your clothing allowance for Sarah Palin and her family, and I just want to throw this idea out at you: spend $150,000 on me and my family, and I'll consider stopping my searing critiques of John McCain, his campaign, and your party's campaign methods, all of which I frequently indulge in on this blog.

Sincerely,

Elliot Blake

p.s. That doesn't mean I will stop the criticism, it just means I'll think about it.

Here She Goes Again...

Today was one heck of a day for Governor Palin.

First, she took issue with Barack Obama's position as a feminist, asserting that if he were a real feminist, he would have picked Hillary Clinton to be his running mate: “Our opponents think they have the women’s vote all locked up, which is a little presumptuous since only our side has a woman on the ticket,” she said. She added, referring to Mr. Obama: “When it came time for choosing a vice president, somehow he couldn’t bring himself to choose a woman who got 18 million votes in the primaries.” Really, Governor? You're taking issue with the Senator Obama's choice of running mate? You'd rather have gone up against Hillary Clinton in the Vice Presidential debate? I guess you must be curious to know what it feels like to be chewed up and then spit out. Also, I think it's a little presumptous of you to assume that the Obama campaign feel like they have the women's vote locked up - I don't think they're taking anything for granted, starting from the top down - but it's especially presumptous of you to assume that women are going to vote for you, or should vote for you, just because you're a woman.

Second, she has once again displayed a stunning ignorance about what the job of the Vice President is when it comes to the V.P.'s role in the Senate:



It's right there in the Constitution, Governor, Article 1, Section 3: "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided." You wouldn't be "in charge of the Senate," nor would you be entitled to "really get in there with the Senators and make a lot of really good policy changes." Just wanted to clear that up for you.

-EB

John the Would-Be President and Sarah the Pit Bull Hockey Mom

At the Vice Presidential debate, Sarah Palin talked a lot about "Joe Sixpack."

At the final Presidential debate, John McCain brought up "Joe the Plumber" something like twenty-one times.

Today, Gov. Palin introduced "Tito the Builder", "Phil the Bricklayer", "Rose the Teacher", and "Barack the Wealth Spender."

Is it just me, or does it seem like the McCain/Palin campaign is working out the cast of characters for a childrens' television show in which "John the Would-Be President" and "Sarah the Pit Bull Hockey Mom" would lead this brave crew of "everyday Americans" in the struggle against "Barack the Wealth Spender?"

I have a few additional character suggestions for Senator McCain and Governor Palin, supporting characters for "Barack the Wealth Spender," who is clearly supposed to be the bad guy in this new kids' show they seem to be focus-group testing at their rallies: "Bill the Washed Up Old Terrorist", "Acorn the Squirrel", "Jeremiah the Crazy Old Pastor", "Colin the Turncoat Republican Who Only Endorsed Barack the Wealth Spender Because He's Black and so is Colin the Turncoat Republican", "Andrew the Anti-America Big City Dweller", "Newsy the Liberal Media Elite", and finally "Democrat the Baby-Killing Socialist."

If only I could draw. This is sounding like a surefire hit to me.

-EB

Update 11:26pm: This just in - according the Caucus Blog of the New York Times, Governor Palin added one more character to her expanding universe of "real Americans." Giving a speech today on feminism while in Nevada, Gov. Palin singled out "female owners of small businesses, especially one she described as 'Irma the Restaurant Owner.'" That's a good one! Well played, Governor!

Why You No Post, Elliot Blake?

So, you're probably thinking to yourself, "Elliot has posted so many witty and searing insights into the state of presidential election politics over the last few weeks that I've come to rely upon his blog as a way to shape my opinions - but over the last few days, he's hardly posted any witty and searing insights at all!"

And you're probably wondering, "Why you no post, Elliot Blake?"

And you could conceivably even be worrying, "Good gosh, I hope he hasn't been silenced by shadowy operatives of the Republican National Committee due to his oftentimes harsh critiques of the McCain campaign!"

Well, I'm here to tell you that you can relax - the truth is, on the weekends it practically impossible for me to post, because I have small kids. And today? Today I was thinking. Deep in thought. And I was also busy trying to organize and file away more than a year's worth of comic books. Turns out that I underestimated the quantity of comics in need of filing - I'm going to have to get another longbox. I'm up to 7 long boxes and 15 short boxes of comics now, not to mention all the collected editions on my bookshelf. It's quite possible - and the jury is still out on this - that I'm addicted. Addicted to comics. Hey... maybe that'll be my next blog... Because what the world needs now is another comics blog.

-EB
(Apologies to Dave Campbell of the blog "Dave's Longbox" for stealing his "Why you no post, Dave Campbell?" line.)

Colin Powell Endorses Obama; So Does Sam Blake

This just in - Colin Powel endorsed Obama on Meet the Press. Clearly, good news for the Obama campaign, and not good news for John McCain. I think Powell is one of the few former members of the Bush Administration to get out with his good reputation mostly intact. Sam, my five year old, just asked what "endorsing" means, and I explained that it means Powell wants Obama to win; Sam said that means he's endorsing Obama, too. I expect these two endorsements to dominate the news cycle over the next couple of days. Press inquiries for Sam' explanation of his endorsement should be directed to me.

-EB

Well, This is Just Frightening...

I'm all for people having differences of opinion when it comes to politics, but this is something else entirely:



Racism, ignorance, and hatred, all on display outside of a Palin rally in Pennsylvania. Is this the "kindness, goodness, and courage of everyday Americans" in the "pro-America areas of this great nation" that Governor Palin mentioned Thursday night? Just curious. I'd like to believe we can better than this as a country, and just respect each others' differences - then I'm reminded that there are people out there that just aren't interested in that line of thinking.

Shouldn't McCain and Palin be speaking out against this kind of behavior? I guess not if it serves their purposes, like the sleazy anti-Obama robo-calls they're employing, which are reinforcing the mindset demonstrated by the people in the video above. Those calls are so sleazy that even Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican and co-chair of McCain's Maine campaign, has called for them to be stopped. Good for her - at least there are some Republicans out there who believe these tactics are below the belt. Unfortunately, those Republicans don't seem to be working for the McCain campaign.

-EB

I Wonder if I Live in a Pro-America Kind of Town?

At a McCain fundraiser in Greensboro, North Carolina on Thursday night, Gov. Sarah Palin said this:

“We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America,” Ms. Palin said, according to a pool report. “Being here with all of you hard-working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans.”

Good grief. I didn't realize there were ares of the country more pro-American than others. I wonder where the anti-America parts of the country are? Anyone? The cities maybe? Is that what she meant?

SARCASM ALERT!
Thank goodness Sarah Palin was brought on to the national stage to point these things out to us, because without her, I never would have realized that it's the small towns where the kind and good and courageous everyday Americans live. Because, oh, I don't know, New Yorkers who had to endure the horror and tragedy of September 11th are only kind and good and courageous one or twice a week, I guess. Yeah, that must be it - you just can't find the kindness, goodness, or courage of everyday Americans in the big cities. Thanks for clearing that up, Governor.
END SARCASM ALERT.

That little speech by Palin once again seems to be implying that people in small towns are more patriotic, or that they are the true patriots of this nation. I'd really like it if the Republicans would stop calling into question the patriotism of those who don't agree with them. I'm not a Republican - that much should be obvious - but I love my country as much as anyone, and I'm proud to be an American, and I'll be an even more proud American if we elect Barack Obama to the presidency.

-EB

This Blog

Y'know, when I started this thing, I really thought I'd be spending a lot of time talking about comic books, my job search, the projects I've been trying to get off the ground, and things that I find interesting. And yet, I've mostly been commenting about politics and the election. Go figure.

-EB

McCain and Palin's ACORN Hyperbole Breeds This:

Death threats to ACORN staffers in Cleveland and Rhode Island, and vandalism at ACORN's Boston and Seattle offices, after McCain's ridiculously overblown statement in Wednesday's debate about how ACORN "may be perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history" and may be "destroying the fabric of democracy." More on this here. With one exception last week, when Senator McCain asked his supporters to dial back their anti-Obama feelings to from violence-threatening hatred to acceptable levels of dislike, the McCain campaign have really been fanning the flames, and they need to come out with a statement saying that this kind of threatening behavior towards a community activist group from his supporters, even if they are "fringe", is unacceptable.

-EB

ACORN...

...and I don't mean the kind falling from the trees to be hoarded by squirrels - I'm referring to the community organization called ACORN, which has been getting a lot of play in the news lately thanks to hysterical cries of voter fraud from Republicans, Fox News, and the McCain campaign. I touched on the ACORN controversy the other night during the debate, and I think it's worth bringing up again because this scandal is being blown up into something much bigger than it actually is.

Here's the story: ACORN, a liberal community organizing group, has been using paid canvassers to register new voters in predominantly poor areas. Several canvassers padded their registrations with phony forms, filled out with names like Mickey Mouse. ACORN, by law apparently, has to turn in all voter registration forms, and as such, these phony registrations were turned in to state governments. But ACORN itself alerted state officials to the problem voter registration forms, which doesn't sound like the actions of an organization seeking to perpetrate, as Senator McCain put it in the debate Wednesday night, "one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy." I don't know - if it were me trying to perpetrate voter fraud so I could destroy the fabric of democracy, I wouldn't call attention to myself - I'd be a lot more shadowy and sneaky, and tell my associates not to try and register Mickey Mouse to vote, because even if someone shows up a the polls wearing mouse ears - it's going to be pretty obvious that it's not actually Mickey Mouse, because Mickey Mouse is not real. You heard it here first, folks.

Even John McCain knows this is ridiculous, and he joked about it at the Al Smith Dinner last night in New York: "In case you haven't been following my opponent's get out the vote campaign, ACORN is helping to register groups previously excluded, overlooked and underserved -- second graders, the deceased, Disney characters. In Florida, they even turned up an ACORN registration form that bore the name of one Mickey Mouse. We're checking the paw prints.Although, I might let that one go, I'm pretty sure the big rat's a Republican." Comedy works best when there's some truth behind it.

There's a larger story here, I think, which is that the Republicans and the McCain campaign are trying to set the table for legal challenges in battleground states they're worried about losing to Obama and the Democrats.

More on this here and here and here. Worth reading.

-EB

If I Had a Band...

...I'd call it Weepy Joe and the Criers.

-EB

p.s. This is the first post in an occasional series called "If I Had a Band...", in which I will post the name of my band if I had one. Which I don't. But, on occasion, I come up with band names out of the blue. And I will post them here.

Live-Blogging the Spin

Mitt Romney just said Barack Obama "isn't someone who keeps America America." Give me a fucking break. I hate the spin room. Both sides spew bullshit after the debate, and that's all the time I've got for it.

Live-Blogging the Debate: Who Won?

Well, it's over, and I think Obama did an okay job. I wanted him to fight back more forcefully against McCain's lecturing and hectoring - it would have been nice to hear him say "Senator McCain is right" a few less times, and I really would have liked to hear him say "Don't lecture me, John." But I guess his game plan has been to keep it civil, and by extension presidential and above it. McCain's demeanor and smugness and overall temperament during the debate keeps him from winning in my book, but he did a good job of keeping Obama on the defensive rather than answering the questions at hand. I can tell you this - I don't like John McCain, and the way he's run his campaign has cost me what little respect I had left for him. I'm going to call this one a draw.

-EB

Live-Blogging the Debate: Vouchers

McCain made a big to-do about vouchers as a cure-all for the problems with the education system, explaining that they're very popular in the terrible D.C. school system, so that must mean vouchers work.

I have more to say on this, but I need to read transcripts and see who said what. Because I disagree with McCain, and I agree with Obama, and I'm going to explain why tomorrow.

In other news, the Dodgers are down by four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. That ain't good.

Good night, and Dodgers, good luck.

-EB

Live-Blogging the Debate: Eloquence

I love how McCain is slamming Obama for his "eloquence" tonight. Read that as "lying to you." As "don't believe the smooth talker." This party, this candidate, this campaign is against intelligence, against intellectualism, against smarts, because the people high up in the Republican party want to keep their base stupid.

Maybe I'm a little angry right now, because I generally don't buy in to conspiracy theories, but to hear the Republicans rail against the "elite', against academics, against those who have excelled in higher education is disgraceful.

Vote for smarts. Vote for "elite." Vote for Obama. Vote against people against education.

-EB

Live-Blogging the Debate: Is Hard Work!

I'm having trouble keeping up. New York Times, you've beaten me again!

Shout outs to my homies Mary Grace and Randy, and a hey hey to my old college pal Dan!

-EB